When Things Fall Apart
by jlg1224
Summary: This story takes place after PJO. The war is over, but things just aren't back to normal. Something happens to Annabeth, so Percy responds in the most extreme way. What he does is dangerous and comes with many consequences. These consequences lead to him making an ultimate decision with the one he loves on the line. Pertemis! Sorry for the turse summary, but I don't wanna spoil ;)
1. Chapter 1

The war had just finished. Luke was dead, Annabeth was still suffering, and Percy felt like the most useless person in the world. He and Annabeth swayed with the music on Olympus. He danced to the solemn song, assuming Annabeth was listening to the exact same thing. Neither of them looked at one another. After a bit of time, they sat at a bench on the street, while everyone else celebrated.

The moment ended when Lady Hestia walked up to Percy. "Care to dance?" she asked. Percy obliged, realizing it was better to take the offer than to decline a goddess. The music sounded the same.

"Percy, I know what you are feeling now. It isn't worth it." He looked up at her with a stoic face. She continued, "Luke was destined to save Olympus. It was written in the very fabric of the universe that the events unfolded like they did."

Percy looked back down with shame written across his face. "Just between you and me... I never was a fan of the Fates." There was a moment of silence. "Why is it that Kronos is dead, and I feel like the most useless individual on the planet? I watched Luke die. Heck, I was trying to give him the knife. And now Annabeth is suffering, and there is nothing I can do to fix it."

She met his eyes and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Percy, you did all that you could. Over the millennia, I've seen heroes come and go. I've seen the ones who accomplished their destiny and died in the process. I've seen others who lived, but then let their victory go to their head." She paused, and they swayed slowly.

"I have seen those heroes Percy. But when I look into your heart, I see someone who helped fulfill the prophecy and became a better person from it. Don't take that for granted."

He embraced her eyes once more. He had nothing to say, but she seemed happy with him.

After they danced, Percy was asked by many others to dance (mostly minor goddesses and Apollo, who then made him do the tango on stage).

After a while, Percy found himself back on the bench. Annabeth had left, and he wanted to have gone with her. It seemed like she needed some space after all of the events. He was ready to call it quits, when he heard his name.

"Perseus?" He looked up.

Standing in front of him was one of persons he least expected to talk to him. Artemis. He noticed she seemed to be around his age at the moment. She wasn't wearing her usual hunters attire. Rather, she was wearing a silver dress, which matched her eyes. Her auburn hair looked different than usual, thrown into a formal bun. He noticed a few strands cascading down.

After his quick assessment of her, he replied, "Lady Artemis, to whom do I owe the pleasure." He usually didn't talk like that, but it was better safe than sorry, or in this case, better safe than being turned into a forest animal.

"Perseus, I would like to dance with you." He couldn't believe what he just heard. His body quickly filled up with anxiety. Perhaps somewhere in his mind he was flattered to have the "man-hating goddess" asking him to dance, but that was dominated by fear for his life.

She humphed. "You do not have to be scared of me, Perseus. In fact, I took great consideration even asking you to dance. But I'll admit, I was curious about your denial of godhood." After that, they danced. Percy remained quite stiff and hardly touched her shoulders, leaving room not only for Jesus, but every Olympian there that night.

Artemis scoffed. "That's not how you do it." She adjusted his arms so he looked a little less tense. She seemed pretty relaxed wrapping her arms around his back.

"That's better," she commented. He was starting to feel a little more comfortable around her.

"Now Perseus, I hate to be an eavesdropper, but I heard your conversation with Hestia. She's right, you know. To deny your fate is to deny reality."

"Spoken like a true Stoic," he replied.

"You know it's true. For most men, I would warn them not to get a big head after a victory. But with you, I somehow feel the need to tell you the opposite."

He remained silent. Like many times that night, he felt like he had nothing to say.

"Perseus, look at me," she demanded. It was funny, she spoke in a harsh tone, but he could see the sympathy lacing her words. "You did all you could. Tell me that's true."

He nodded his head with hesitation.

"But beyond that, I still do not understand why you would not have accepted godhood? Any male would have done so within a heart beat."

He looked up at her. "I'd hate to tell you I'm not like other guys, but honestly, I don't feel like anyone right now." He lowered his head again.

THAWWPPP.

"Aww man, what was that for?" Percy asked while caressing his cheek. If anyone was paying attention, they could see the red hand print she left.

"If you don't get over the fact that you did the best you could, you'll never stop being left in the dumps." She pointed her finger at his chest. "I'm not going to see the one good man I've ever met die from the hauntings of his victory." After realizing she called him the 'one good man', Artemis scurried away with a slight blush on her cheeks. Although they were not as red as Percy's, though...

And that was how Percy Jackson spent the celebration of defeating Kronos.


	2. Chapter 2

Three months later, Percy was starting to get over the war. He spent his time at camp, but was also able to visit his mother and Paul.

Although things were clearing up for Percy, the same couldn't be said for Annabeth. All she did was lock herself inside the Athena cabin and design the architecture of Olympus. Although her hard work could have been viewed as impressive, Percy saw the deeper meaning behind it. Annabeth couldn't accept losing Luke, so she prevented her emotions from overcoming her by keeping herself occupied with work.

He tried to understand her thoughts- what it would be like to lose your childhood friend in front of your own eyes. Although Percy and Annabeth were sort of a thing, he hadn't gotten the chance to embrace her like a girlfriend. The only proof for their relationship was the kiss she gave him in the volcano.

Percy had given her some space, but he decided it was time to check up on her.

"Annabeth, you in there?" he asked while knocking on the Athena cabin door. He heard a bunch of movements- papers flying everywhere, objects falling on the ground. After that, there was silence. After thirty seconds, the door opened.

The only way Percy could describe what he saw was painful. Before him stood Annabeth, with droopy eyes and disheveled hair. Behind her were the scrolls and books he heard falling on the ground.

To Percy's surprise, she was quite aware of how bad this scene looked. "Look, Percy... I'm sorry-"

"Don't be sorry," he quickly responded. He understood what she was going through. "Listen, it's alright. I am sure you are busy." Although he said it was alright, he was beginning to feel helpless again.

She pouted. "Percy, I am sorry. I haven't given you any of my time. Honestly, I haven't even given myself any time. All I've done is kept myself at work with this Olympus renovation. I've spent hours making every detail was just the way I pictured it in my head. I just..." she paused. "I just am having troubles." She looked down in shame, as if she was disappointing him.

"You know what I think we should do?" asked Percy. He had a glint in his eye and a grin pulling on his lips. "I think we should go for a walk, maybe have a picnic in the woods. Just to catch up, you know?"

Annabeth looked behind her at the mess she made. She realized how unacceptable her condition was. As a child of Athena, she should have been able to rationalize the emotions she was currently feeling. She shouldn't have been trying to hide them with stress and work. She turned back towards Percy and wiped a bead of sweat off of her forehead.

She gave Percy a small smile, which, for Percy, was just the quiver of hope he needed. Not hoping that she'd spend some time with him. No, just hope that she was alright. "That sounds like a good idea. Let me change quick."

For someone who was in such a disarray, she sure did clean herself up quick. After five minutes, she left the cabin with a new shirt, her hair more managed, and an attempt of a smile on her face.

Percy smiled back and walked by her side. Although Percy was itching to grab her hand, he thought it was best not to. No need to introduce any more emotions to this situation.

They went to the Dining Pavillon and stocked up on food, putting it into a woven picnic basket that Percy found at the Athena cabin. Before they left, they went to the fire to offer up some food. Percy chucked in an apple and a sandwich. _To the gods, specifically my father, Hestia, and Artemis, for reminding me to not dwell on the past,_ he prayed.

Annabeth threw some food in as well and whispered a prayer. After that, they walked down the path to the forest.

It was a beautiful day, as per usual at camp with the weather barrier. The wind blew a subtle breeze. The sun warmed up everything just right. Percy could smell the summer's dew in the grass.

"How are things going for you?" Annabeth asked, watching a mother bird feed her newborns in a nest up above.

"Things have been going well. I've been appointed as a combat trainer, so I give lessons to a lot of the younger kids on how to fight. Although I can teach them pretty well, I'm not sure if I will ever be as good as Lu-." He paused, wanting to kick himself for bringing up his name.

Annabeth just exhaled and let her shoulders fall. "It's okay Percy. Although I am still sad that he had to go, I know that he made the right choice. That day, you were a hero, and so was he."

Percy nodded. "He was a hero." After a bit of silence, and a sense of awkwardness was piling up, Percy spoke up again. "Anyways, although I can teach a sword, I will never be as good with a knife as you."

She smirked and lightly elbowed his stomach. "You got that right", she said looking into his eyes. Percy was ecstatic seeing her this way. He waited months to get back to this kind of relationship with her. "And, you know, us children of Athena aren't the best with a bow, but somehow you are able to make even us look like the best the world had ever seen," she teased.

He chuckled. "You better look out. One day, my intense bow powers will come back to bite you." He nudged her playfully.

"Oh really?" She gave him an inquisitive and cheeky look.

"Absolutely. One day, I am going to aim at the bulls eye and accidentally shoot you in the behind. Don't worry, I will use the bluntest arrows I can find so you don't cry too much at my impeccable ability to cause chaos."

"Hmm, that's interesting. But to be honest, you're so bad, if you aimed at the bullseye with the intention of hitting me, it might be the only time you actually hit the target. I think your aim always goes against what you want," she replied. This what the part of her that he could've waited a couple of months on- the part where she always gets the last word and wins.

After walking through the woods, they found a clearing not too far from Zeus' fist. They sat down and started to enjoy their meal.

"I'm really glad you got me out of the cabin." By now, they were laying right next to each other. Their arms "magically" touched, and soon they were holding hands (as you can imagine, Annabeth made most of the moves for that to happen. Percy is a hero, but naturally, also a Seaweed Brain).

"It's nice, isn't it? No prophecy, no war. Just some time to enjoy life. And I'm glad I get to enjoy it with you," he said. It didn't take much longer for Annabeth to be lying right next to Percy, her head resting in the crook of her neck. Although it took some courage, Percy eventually put his arms around her. They spent the afternoon taking in the moment.

**I promise, it's still Pertemis. Just juicening it up (yes, juicening is a word. The red dots I see below it are proof that some people don't know how to use fun words). Thank you for reading, have a great day.**


	3. Chapter 3

p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Come on Seaweed Brain," Annabeth called. Percy was packing the rest of his things. Him and Annabeth were heading to New York City to meet his parents./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Almost ready, just one second." Percy finished packing and rushed out of the Poseidon cabin. They left with Argus inside the Delphi Strawberry Service van. Normally, Chiron wasn't too fond of letting demigods wonder outside of the campgrounds. But when it's the hero and architect of Olympus, it's alright to pull a few strings./p  
hr style="margin: 5px 0px; background-color: #cbcbcb; background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 100%, 100% 100%, from(#ffffff), color-stop(0.1, #cbcbcb), color-stop(0.9, #cbcbcb), to(#ffffff)); color: #000000; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" noshade="noshade" size="1" /  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Percy."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""What?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Can you please stop humming the same song? It's been an hour since the radio played Party in the USA, and you are still mumbling to it."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Oh, sorry. It's a classic."/p  
hr style="margin: 5px 0px; background-color: #cbcbcb; background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 100%, 100% 100%, from(#ffffff), color-stop(0.1, #cbcbcb), color-stop(0.9, #cbcbcb), to(#ffffff)); color: #000000; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" noshade="noshade" size="1" /  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"They finally arrived to Percy's apartment. They rung the doorbell and waited./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Hey guys!" Sally chimed. She took a step out the door and gave Percy a big hug. Then, she turned to Annabeth and did the same, but to a slightly lesser degree./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"Percy and Annabeth walked in, and Sally ushered them to the couch./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Here we go," she said, while handing them a tray of blue cookies. They each ate around 10 cookies, and the rest of the night was full of sharing embarrassing Percy stories and baby pictures./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Here he is in the bathtub, he sure loved the water."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Yeah, that's a good one."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""And here is one of Percy picking his-"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"Percy sat there with dread. "This so isn't fair."/p  
hr style="margin: 5px 0px; background-color: #cbcbcb; background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 100%, 100% 100%, from(#ffffff), color-stop(0.1, #cbcbcb), color-stop(0.9, #cbcbcb), to(#ffffff)); color: #000000; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" noshade="noshade" size="1" /  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"The next day, Percy and Annabeth took a walk in Central Park. He enjoyed holding hands with her, showing her all of the places he'd been./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Hey, is that where you peed behind the bush? I'm sure Sally took the picture right by that tr-"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""I regret not burning those photos."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"She smirked, "Don't worry, I printed out extra copies for myself."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"Percy gave her a curious look. "And why would you do that?" he pondered./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Well, two reasons really. First, they are funny and kind of adorable. Second, black mail."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""And why would you do that?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Hmm, I'm not sure. But when I need a big favor, I'll let you know. Gods forbid I give just one copy to one of the Stolls. That would just be terrible, wouldn't it?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"They kept walking through the park, when they came upon a tree./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""You know what that is?" Percy asked. Annabeth shot him a confused look./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""That is, or what remains, of Hyperion." The sun had died down, and it was almost pitch black. However, through the mist, Percy and Annabeth could see the tree emanating a faint light- the essence of Hyperion./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"They sat on a bench nearby. Percy had his arm around Annabeth, and she rested her head on his shoulder./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Annabeth..." There was a bit of silence./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Yes Percy," she replied./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""I just wanted to let you know that these last few months, along with the last few years, have been some of the best of my life. And that's thanks to you." The frogs croaked from the ponds./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""And, I just wanted to let you know, that, Annabeth, I think, no, I know, that I love you."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"Annabeth let out a humph and nestled deeper in the crest of his neck./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""You're a Seaweed Brain, you know that?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""I guess."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""But you're my Seaweed Brain. And I know that I lo- span style="font-style: italic;"AHHH!" /spanPercy got up quick to see what happened. Annabeth was on the ground, holding her stomach. Behind the bench, he saw a dark spirit floating into the ground. It was an arai, if he recalled correctly./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"He quickly rushed to her side./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Annabeth, what's wrong?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"Annabeth let out a few yelps of pain. Percy could hear her breaths shortening./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""I don't... know," she barely spoke./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Annabeth, please, try to take deep breaths. Here, do it with me. In... out... in..." She tried to slow her breathing, but it wasn't working. Percy kept doing this with her. He didn't know what else to do. There was no one around to ask for help, and he didn't have a cellphone./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Percy" she gasped. He grabbed her shoulder and looked at her attentively./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""What is it, Annabeth."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""I..." wheeze "love..." cough "you... t-". She stopped talking and breathing. Percy checked her pulse. It was extremely faint. He had two options: carry her to the nearest hospital, which was far away, or perform CPR. He chose the latter./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"After around twenty minutes, he realized that it was hopeless. When realization struck, he screamed, with the voice of an Olympian, "span style="font-style: italic;"NOOOOOOOOOO"./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"He had just witnessed the death of his best friend and the one he loved./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;""Annabeth" he muttered, with tears in his eyes and a lifeless body in front of him./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"span style="font-weight: bold;"Darn, that was sad :( I didn't want it to end this way, but in the books, they were meant to be. Only death could part them... thank you for reading, have a great day./span/p 


	4. Chapter 4

The Atlantic was experiencing one of the largest storms ever seen. The waves flew 30 feet above their natural level, collapsing back into the water with claps as loud as thunder. The unfortunate sailors only survived under the protection of Poseidon. Even he had troubles controlling his own domain. And that enraged him. And more than that, it scared him.

The rural regions of the state of New York suffered from the worst earthquake in centuries. The only reason the more populated regions of New York didn't experience the tremors was thanks to an all-hands-on-deck effort by the Olympians. After all, Olympus existed on the top of the Empire State Building.

At the council meeting, none of the Olympians could make sense of these phenomena. The answer for Zeus was simple: no one, accept for an Olympian, had that much power. Beyond that, only one Olympian had control over the seas and the earth.

"Brother, I know what you are thinking. And if you dare insult my name and my intentions, there will be a lot more than this. I do not know who is behind these events, but if you cross me, I see no reason not to expand these disasters," Poseidon declared on the edge of his throne. Zeus looked down contemplatively.

"My opinions are of my own brother, and you cannot sway them. I will reserve judgment for now, but if the source of this is not found in two weeks, I will have no one else to believe other than you," Zeus replied. All the other Olympians remained silent. Those brothers always had tension, but this one seemed much more serious. From Zeus emanated sparks of static electricity in the air. Meanwhile, Poseidon's trident started to flicker a sea-green aura.

"If I may." Every turned their attention to the hearth. Zeus gave her the nod to continue. "Brothers, there is no need for any of this. It's obvious who is the cause of this."

"Well do explain then, sister," Zeus commented.

"Poseidon, I'm surprised you haven't put two and two together. With the death of Annabeth Chase, who would suffer the most? And who would respond by reacting like the Earth-shaker himself."

"Percy," Poseidon mumbled. The whole council went silent.

Then Zeus spoke, "It is settled then. Since he has masked himself from being located, we are going to have to hunt him down. Dionysus, check the camp. Get your dryads to search every part of the woods. Apollo, when you fly the Sun Chariot, keep an eye out for him. And Artemis, I want you and your hunters to search for him as well." The Olympians nodded in agreement. Even Artemis showed no sign of hesitation.

Zeus continued, "As for you brother, you better hope we find him soon, or the damage is on your hands. Hero of Olympus or not," he spat. He left in a flash of lightning.

One by one, the other Olympians left the throne room. However, the last to go was Artemis, who made her way to the hearth.

"Pretty amazing my brothers couldn't figure out it was Percy," Hestia commented while stoking the fire.

"Men," was all Artemis replied. Hestia gave a quiver of a smile.

"I'm glad you decided to help join in the hunt for Percy."

"Did I really have the choice?" replied Artemis.

Hestia gave a little chuckle. "No, but I know you, Artemis. Even if Zeus didn't tell you to do it, you still would have."

"And why is that? You're not assuming that I would brea-"

"Not in the slightest," Hestia reassured. "No Artemis, but I can see the respect you have shown Percy. And it is well deserved if you ask me. If you would have asked me after the war with Kronos was over, who the all-time, best hero of Olympus was, I would have responded 'Percy'. But now, after all of this, it seems that not only is he the best, but perhaps the strongest, as well. I never correlated strength with heroism, but he seems to have both," she mused.

Artemis nodded her head, slightly hesitantly. "He had earned Zoe's respect in her final moments. That is enough for my respect as well. But I must admit, I am slightly concerned." She pushed a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear. "If what you say is true, that Percy could be the strongest hero we have ever seen, his wrath could be severe. He has a good reason to be sad for losing a fine maiden such as Annabeth. However, combined with his fatal flaw of loyalty, who knows if he will stop until her death is avenged." A moment of silence past over the two goddesses.

"You and your hunt can find him," Hestia spoke. "All I am afraid of is where he will take you to find him."

"You don't think that my hunt can-"

"Oh, you will find him. I have no doubt. However, I have an idea of what he is planning. I don't know if it is completely true, but if it is, it may be your hardest mission yet. But I have faith in you Artemis, I always have." She gave her a smile of consolidation.

"Well then, I must be off. It seems like every second I waste is another hundred acres of land being destroyed." And in a silver glow, she was gone, back to her hunt.

* * *

Over in the cabin in Montauk was Percy. Scattered across the floor were ancient books and papers. On the walls, he tacked different pictures and attached them with strings (it helped his ADHD follow a clear path from one idea to the next). From the outside, you couldn't see any emotion. But on the inside, his anger was as livid as the oceans were chaotic. At this point, Percy wasn't interested in moving on. To him, Annabeth's death was on constant replay in his head. Percy's only interest was destroying the thing responsible for her death.

He was sure that there was going to be an Olympian man hunt for him. But he wasn't concerned in the slightest. He was closing in on the truth, and where it took him didn't matter.

**Thank you for reading, have a great day. **


	5. Chapter 5

Although the earthquakes seized after a couple of days, the storms continued to rage across the Atlantic. No one could find Percy, not even the Hunt.

And perhaps, for good reason. Percy was in a place no one would have ever assumed him to be at. Heck, it was a place he never wanted to find himself in. The library. In specific, the New York Public Library.

Percy was on a mission for a book that may have had the answers he was looking for.

Percy wasn't looking like his usual self. He was wearing a black sweatshirt, with his hood up, and dark jeans. He did a quick scan of the place.

For a Tuesday morning, there were a lot more people than he had expected. He saw grad students looking for books amongst the shelves. An elderly man reading the newspaper. Kids playing games on the computers. Percy knew he wouldn't find the book among the civilians, however. No, it was in the archives in the basement.

Percy walked towards the right corner of the building, which led to a series of stairs going up and down. Although the public was only supposed to go up to the second and third levels, Percy found himself going to the basement. At the bottom of the stairs was a steel door. He tried to open it, but it was locked. Although Percy had a general idea of the plan, he didn't know what to do.

So, he improvised. He summoned some water and willed it to fill the cavity of the lock on the door. Then, he tried something he never had done before. He willed the water to freeze. As he did so, he felt his stomach experience the same coldness as the water. Before he knew it, the water was ice.

Then, he was about to turn his icicle key, when he looked through one of the reinforced windows on the door. There was a security sensor for any unauthorized entrances. If he opened the door, he would sound the alarm. Now, he could have grabbed a worker's ID card to prevent the alarms from ringing after opening the door. However, Percy didn't want to steal or break the public property. He was on a mission to terminate whatever killed Annabeth, but beyond that, his morals stayed the same.

But he was really annoyed. He couldn't open the door, and that was the only entrance.

"Excuse me, is someone down there," he heard someone yell from the upper flight of stairs. He was going to get busted by a librarian. He had to think quick. Then, an idea came to him.

"Hello, anyone there?" the librarian asked while going towards the door. To her surprise, there was no one there.

Just the smell of the sea breeze.

Percy had gone far enough away from the sensors, and he was inside the basement. He turned the corner and saw what he was looking for: the archives.

The room was temperature and moisture controlled for the safety of the books. However, the library must of assumed that locking it wasn't necessary, since the alarm was already connected to the other door. Percy opened the door, and the smell of old books hit him hard.

"Annabeth would have loved this," Percy mumbled to himself under his hood. He searched for a while. He could have stolen any one of the books and sold them for thousands of dollars, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to read part of the book he was looking for. And then he found it.

In the corner shelf sat the oldest copy of _The Iliad_ by Homer. Although the story was transcribed over millennia, the version he was looking for was the oldest full manuscript, from the 10th century, AD. From what Percy had discerned through some of his research, this book was written by a demigod. When he made the manuscript, he left out certain parts that were unnecessary for mortals to read about. However, in the back of the book, hidden by the mist, the author left the hidden details for non-mortals to see. And Percy was that non-mortal.

Percy spent some time reading it thoroughly. He checked every other page for any more hidden information he could gather.

Then, when he was finished, he set the book down, and left the same way he came.

Later that day, when the custodians dusted off all of the books, they were slightly confused seeing the copy of Homer off of the shelf. To them, someone accidentally left the book open.

To anyone who could see through the mist, they would have seen the true words Homer had written.

Part 33: To Fade: How to Kill an Immortal

* * *

Meanwhile, the Hunt were following their first lead, which led them to Montauk.

"Thalia, which cabin did he go to when he was younger?" asked Artemis.

"The one over there milady." They walked towards the cabin. All the girls held their bows tight, but Artemis. She wasn't scared of Percy. Not because he wasn't powerful, but because she still respected him for his selflessness and humility.

They neared the cabin and noticed that someone had been there. The question was if he still was hiding inside.

Artemis opened the door. She noticed all of the books and papers on the floor. The clutter was absurd.

She went to the wall, where he pinned all of his research. At the end, she saw a piece of paper that had his plans written down.

She narrowed her eyes. "Girls, can any of you read this?"

Phoebe spoke up. "It looks like a foreign language to me. Definitely written by a man." And she was correct. It turns out that Percy's education did not involve making his handwriting legible for anyone else but himself.

"That boy. Either he purposely did that to throw anyone off, or he just has bad handwriting. I suggest both," Phoebe scoffed. Some of the hunters nodded in agreement.

The raid was a bust, and Artemis was starting to get annoyed. Sure, she respected Percy. But the fact that an Olympian couldn't catch a demigod bothered her. All because of his boyish handwriting.

**Thank you for reading. Have a great day.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not really have a schedule for these posts. I don't want to force myself to post twice a day, because I'm not sure how long I can stay motivated to keep that pattern up. However, I am having a great time writing, and I appreciate you guys reading this!**

By now, Percy had ended his control over the seas and earth. It wasn't because he couldn't handle it and ran out of strength. Heck, he didn't even know he was doing it. At this point, the emotions had subsided, and all that was left was pure determination. He improved in his abilities to travel by vaporizing, though he realized it was easiest when he was near the seas. He followed the East coast all the way down to Florida, across the Gulf of Mexica, to the Pacific ocean, and found himself in California. He entered DOA Recording Studios.

_*clinck* _a bag of drachmas hit the counter.

"Well, look who we have here. What was your name again? Hmm... Percy Jackson, that's it," said Charon. Percy just stood there with his hood up.

"Hmm, I remember bringing you inside a little while back. You and your friends came here," Charon commented. He tussled on the lapels of his Italian suit.

"But you're back, and you're still alive... Mortals, I will never understand you people. You can't just accept death, you have to get all curious about it and try to do something noble. Although, I did see your friend just a couple of weeks ago, but I'm afraid that she was not in the same, uh, living condition as you are currently." Percy steeled his mouth at that one.

"Can you just let me in?" he asked with a bit of an edge to his voice.

Charon looked at the bag of drachmas in front of him. "Hmm, I suppose." He spoke up, "Alright, you dead, good for nothings. I'm going to take this mortal, you guys just wait a couple more years. Thank you for stopping at DOA Recording Studios." All the dead moaned after that.

As they crossed the Styx, Charon looked back at Percy. "You know, I really do not care about mortal affairs, like at all. But if I might ask, what are you doing here, man? I remember last time, you three had your pearls to escape the Underworld, but I don't sense one on you now."

Percy just stared in front of him. "Why I am here doesn't matter. But you are right, I only planned for a one-way ticket."

And with that, they kept sailing.

* * *

Meanwhile, the hunters of Artemis were having zero luck in finding Percy. Artemis was getting frustrated. There wasn't a thing she couldn't track down, yet Percy seemed to elude her at every step.

The Hunt had set camp in Yellowstone National Park. This was their meeting point, and during the day, Artemis deployed different groups in different directions, while she searched alone. At the end of the day, they all reconvened and discussed any leads they had on him. Sadly, they had nothing on him yet again. The girls all sat around the fire talking trash about Percy.

"Why are we even searching for a worthless boy, anyways?" asked Phoebe. "Shouldn't we be glad there is one less boy out there for Olympus to worry about?" A bunch of the girls snickered and nodded their heads in agreement. One of the ones who didn't was Thalia.

After a couple of other girls dissed Percy, Thalia decided that she had enough. "Girls, stop it. I understand that Percy is a male. But Percy is also the best male I have ever met. When Zoe was living her final moments, she realized that not all men are bad because of Percy. If you want to respect the death of a fallen maiden such as Zoe, you can start by honoring her words." By now everyone had gone silent. She pulled out the Zoe-card.

After the conversations picked up a bit, Thalia looked at Artemis. Artemis gave her a solemn smile across the fire.

"Alright girls, let's put out the fire. Tomorrow we'll be tracking even further from base camp." The girls went back to their tents.

Artemis didn't realize how tired she was until she laid down. Immediately, her body just let go. Although she didn't admit this to her hunters, she had searched five times as far as them. For one, she didn't like failing to catch a demigod. Second, she wanted to make sure Percy was alright. Percy was the first, erh, well, maybe not friend, but her first male acquaintance who she could tolerate.

She recalled the last time they saw each other after the defeat of Kronos and Typhon. She asked him to dance, and she ended up enjoying his presence. Granted, she also slapped him across the face that night, but it was still nice to have the reminder that there was potentially hope for the male community.

* * *

The next morning, Artemis jumped out of bed. She quickly put on her uniform and went outside. She went over to Thalia's tent and knocked.

"Milady, isn't it a bit early?" Thalia asked, her hair looking like a pine cone.

"Thalia, I know where Percy is," Artemis replied. Thalia widened her eyes.

"What? How?" she asked.

"The Fates ordained me with his whereabouts in a dream. But if what the dream showed was true, I must go alone. I will contact Apollo, he is going to take you girls to Camp Half Blood."

"But milady, you could use ou-"

"No Thalia, I must go alone. Although the dream didn't tell me everything, one thing is for certain. Percy is planning something dangerous. I have to stop him." Artemis looked at her seriously. Thalia slowly nodded her head.

And then Artemis was off, towards the West coast.

**Thank you for reading. Have a great day!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Here you go boy, ehr, boys," Percy said, reaching into his backpack. He pulled out a big, red ball for Cerberus, who jumped up and down eagerly. He threw the ball as far as he could. The dog chased after it with delight. Percy smiled for a quick second, remembering the last time they were in this situation. Annabeth was able to tame him when all he saw them as was food.

Rather than just leaving right away, Percy ended up playing fetch with the dog for a couple minutes. It became a contest between the three heads, who could get the ball. Then, when he decided to leave, he pet them for a bit, and left through the dead lines. The dogs didn't even try to stop him, they just whimpered at the sight of him gone.

"Oh yeah," he remembered. He threw out two more balls so they didn't have to share. He waved goodbye, and they wagged their tails so much, the stalactites began to fall from the top of the ceiling.

Percy walked past the Fields of Punishment, where all he could hear were the screams of agony from those inside. He then walked past the Fields of Asphodel, and was soon looking at Elysium. His heart began to sink in his chest. Annabeth was there. For more than anything else, he just wanted to see her one last time. But then he reminded himself that after his mission, he would hopefully be there.

* * *

"Hermes" Artemis called out of the Iris-message. He was taking a phone call and didn't seem to notice her in front of him. "Hermes!" she shouted.

"Oh, uh, Artemis, hello. Wow, this is weird, you never bother to call me. Honestly, I didn't exp-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Listen, I need you to do me a favor."

Hermes noticed the tinge of desperateness in her voice, but he knew it was best not to comment on it.

"What can I do for you, cousin?" he asked, tucking away his George and Martha cellphone.

"I need you to get me into the Underworld. I would do it myself, but the Ancient Laws make it quite difficult."

Hermes gave her a confused look. "And why do you need to go there?"

She shook him off. "It doesn't matter, but please, do this for me."

Hermes understood that she was not in a mood to be reckoned with.

"Alright cousin, but it's gonna cost ya."

* * *

Percy was almost to his destination. He neared Hades' palace. He knew it was best not to be noticed, so he tried to vaporize past. But it didn't work. His powers weren't as strong away from the seas. Now he had to think of another way to not be seen.

"Nephew." Percy turned around to see Hades in his chariot. So much for hiding. He looked the same as the last time Percy came down here. Although this time, his robe was blood red. Percy noticed the faces of the damned trying to escape the fabric, but Hades didn't seem to be particularly bothered by it in the slightest.

Percy bowed. "Lord Hades." A smirk started to appear on the god's face.

"You know, I always considered you an interesting creature. But I never took you for a fool. Did you really think you could just, uh, 'walk by' my palace, in my domain, and expect me not to notice?" He gave Percy a scrutinizing look.

"Listen, Lord Hades, I-"

"No, no, no, that isn't all. Not only are you here, but I sense that you have no way to escape this time." He paused. "What?" he asked rhetorically. "Thought you were just gonna teleport back to the Overworld when you finished whatever shenanigans you are up to? It's not that simple, boy," he sneered.

"Uncle, I have no reason to change your assessment of me. But your judgment is slightly off. I don't plan on leaving this time," Percy replied with no emotion.

Hades looked at him, confused. "Well, you did add some respect to my name with the wish you made after the war, so, very well. I will let you pass. I don't even care where you are going. But Perseus Jackson, if you are trying to pull off something so egregious that it goes against the Ancient Laws and Fate, I will have to stop you. This is my domain, after all."

Percy bowed again. "Thank you, Lord Hades. You have nothing to be concerned about. I will not be a bother to your kingdom."

Hades nodded his head, and Percy kept on walking.

* * *

"Would you look at that. Two unwelcomed visitors in one day. Wow, things haven't been this odd in centuries," Hades commented. In front of him stood Artemis, who presented herself in his castle. She knew it was best not to hide from her uncle. He would have no trouble sensing her here.

"If that is what you say, Hades."

"And what brings the virgin goddess here?" he asked, on the edge of his throne.

"Have you seen Percy Jackson?" she asked him. "Olympus has been searching for him weeks, and I believe he is somewhere in your domain."

Hades nodded his head. "Well, it turns out that you are a little too late for me to know his whereabouts. I had just caught him sneaking around my palace."

Artemis' eyes widened. "Where is he going?"

"He didn't say, but if I were you, I would check the worst scenarios first. When I saw him, it appeared that he was on a kamikaze mission. He doesn't even have a way to escape. Come to think of it, neither do you." He chuckled at the thought of that.

"That isn't important. Hermes offered a round trip. But I will follow your advice. In the Overworld, he was causing massive chaos after the death of Annabeth Chase. It appears that wasn't enough for him to let go of her."

Hades chuckled. "Oh boy, do I miss the drama of the mortals. They would do anything for what they put their values in. So much, in fact, that they always ended up here. And here, their lives are just stories. The irony! Percy Jackson ended up here alive, probably to accomplish something in the name of revenge. But if you don't find him quick, I'm afraid that he will be a permanent resident sooner or later. This place isn't meant for the living. It corrupts their very fibers of existence. They put too much emotions into this place, being distraught, as if the lost souls who are suffering don't deserve their fate. I don't know why Percy is here, but you better find him quick. Or the boy will die. That is for certain." Artemis gave her uncle a slight bow, and he motioned her to leave.

* * *

Artemis took the advice of Hades, although she hoped that she would never find Percy in some of the worst areas of the Underworld.

She sprinted around the shore of the River of Lethe, following the freshest footprints. She took a corner in the cave, and what she saw terrified her.

At the edge of a cliff stood Percy Jackson. He looked back at her, and his stern expression broke. It was like the old, naive Percy was still inside of him.

Artemis just stood at the far end of the cave. "Percy, please, come here. I've been looking for you for weeks. You've caused quite the storm across the Atlantic."

Percy gave a slightly confused look. "What do you mean?" he asked.

She replied, "After Annabeth... left... you caused an earthquake in New York, and the seas went into disarray."

Percy just looked at her. He wasn't aware of any of the damage he caused. He noticed that she was back into her older form, matching his age. He never noticed how beautiful she was. Her silver eyes were filled with the blue lights from the crystals in the ceiling of the cave. Her auburn hair was braided, sitting down her shoulder.

He frowned. "You shouldn't have came here Artemis. I didn't want anyone to go looking out for me."

She frowned. "Percy, please, just come back with me to the Overworld. Annabeth's life has passed, but you do not have to devote the rest of yours just for whatever you are trying to do."

Percy frowned as well. "I'm sorry Artemis, but I need to do this." He turned around.

"Percy, stop it! Don't do it," she yelled out at him. But it didn't work. It was too late.

Percy Jackson was falling into Tartarus.

**Ooh, that was a juicy chapter to write! Thank you for reading, have a great day!**


	8. Chapter 8

Percy was falling for a couple of minutes. At some point, he literally became bored. However, that came to a quick end when he hit the ground... and that hurt a lot.

"Gaaaah," he moaned. Thankfully he didn't break any bones (at least, that he was aware of). He wiped the soot off of his clothes, and stood up. By that point, he realized why Tartarus was considered a place not worth visiting. Immediately, his eyes started to water from the haze he was surrounded in. Also, the ground released more of these vapors with every step he took.

He tried to find his bearings from the maps he had studied. He noticed a river down the hill from where he was standing. It was the River Phlegethon, the river of fire. At this point, Percy started to notice the blisters forming on his arm, from the air alone. He could hardly breathe from how dry his throat was. He decided to risk it. He scooped his hands into the water and drank it.

He started to shake. His body wasn't reacting to it well (although nothing was really reacting well with Tartarus). He gagged and heaved, but then the feeling passed over him, and his blisters started to disappear. 'Well that was gross,' he thought to himself.

He looked back up the hill, making sure that Artemis didn't take the trip with him. He felt relieved not seeing her there, although he did think about how her presence would be somewhat comforting in this wretched place.

Nonetheless, he made his way with the river. He knew that it ultimately led to the Doors of Death, the only escape from Tartarus. But he wasn't concerned about escaping. He planned to spend the rest of his life here after completing his mission.

At several points he had to stop walking and drink more water. The gagging and shaking never stopped, but he continued.

Eventually, he came across an all-black tree. The thing was massive, with no leaves. When he looked up, he saw several pairs of eyes glowing in the dark. All of them looked at Percy and appeared to be going to the lower limbs. Percy took that as a cue to run away, so he did.

He didn't stop running until he assumed he was out of their sight. From breathing the terrible air and running his heart out, Percy fell to the ground. He started to wheeze, and saliva started to goop down his lips. He crawled to the river and drank some more water.

When he stood back up, he found what he was looking for. Next to a large rock was a bubble forming. Inside of it was Hyperion, growing back to strength. Percy grabbed Riptide and popped the bubble. The liquid that was surrounding Hyperion fell upwards, as if it responded to gravity in the opposite direction. Hyperion slowly opened his eyes.

When he regained vision, he noticed the boy standing in front of him. "You?!" he asked. "You idiot mortal, you were the one who defeated me. I am going to kill you, Percy Jackson. If it's the last thing I do!" he taunted.

Percy looked at him calmly. "Your words mean nothing to me, after what you did," his voice started to quiver, but he prevented it from showing.

Hyperion looked at him for a second, slightly confused. But then realization struck his face, and his face lit up. "Oh, you mean that little surprise gift I sent your girlfriend? Oh man, I am so glad it made its way to you." Percy started to shake with rage. Hyperion continued, "Interesting thing about those arai's, they're curses. That's all, just little curses that anyone can make for basically any reason. But you see, they can't escape Tartarus unless someone lets them. And here I spent all of this time reforming, when someone else did all the work for me!" he howled with a level of insanity eminent in his tone. His laughter grew and grew, and Percy just stood there.

"You can laugh all you want, Hyperion. Frankly, I don't care. But the one who should be caring is you, because your life is on the line. And I am the one who is going to end it!" Percy yelled. Hyperion just looked up and laughed some more.

"Wow, you are an idiot mortal boy. We're already in Tartarus, what's the worst you can do? I'm just going to reform. And even if you manage to escape me, I will hunt you down until you die. Then you will reform, and I will spend the rest of my days chasing the idiot prey known as Percy Jackson." He laughed some more. Percy grabbed Riptide from his pocket and clicked the pen. Then, he dipped the sword in the river, and mumbled an ancient incantation from the book of Homer. (Translated) "I call on Chaos, to bring disarray. Along with Order, how things should stay. The oldest beings, from which I am made. In this moment, I ask the power to fade."

Hyperion continued to laugh and joke at Percy. Percy ran at him, and Hyperion made a quick stride forward and punch him in the face. Percy hit the ground hard, but he was still invincible from the Styx.

"You really think you can beat me without your stupid water powers?" He held his arms out, in a come-at-me position. "You heroes are the dumbest and most arrogant among us. You are born with these powers and think you can contend with the gods. You are nothing but weak, mortals."

Percy got back up, although his throat was swelling from the Tartarus atmosphere. Percy stumbled up towards him.

"You are the worst among the heroes, Perseus Jackson. A lunatic, who made his way down to Tartarus just to be my eternal play thing. Bahahaha," he crowed.

Percy made another stride towards Hyperion, who merely stepped to the side and hit Riptide right out of his hand. Hyperion then proceeded to punch Percy to the ground. Then, he followed it with kicks to his side.

"This is fun. I think I could get used to this. And you know what the best part is? You're going to live the rest of eternal punishment knowing that you could never avenge your girlfriend's death."

Percy screamed with a primal roar. The river sent a wave to his sword, which pushed it over to Percy. Hyperion tried to punch Percy, but he vaporized behind him. Then, he raised Riptide and shot it through the back of Hyperion.

"You stupid mortal," he said, with the blade still in his chest. "You know I will be back, right? That's what this hell hole is. I will always be back to kill you again and again." Percy smirked.

"Why are you smiling, you insolent fool? You moron," Hyperion sneered. Percy just stood there, as Hyperion's body slowly started to lose its materiality. He became translucent, and then faded into the Cosmos.

After that, Percy felt his knees buckle, and he hit the ground. He tried to will the river to him, but it was too late. This time, his body went into a state of shock. He was knocked unconscious, shaking at random intervals.

_He was back at the top of the cliff to Tartarus, where he took the jump. He turned around, and there was Artemis, sobbing. She sat on a blunt stalagmite, with her hands covering her eyes. Percy approached her, and a sensation of guilt flew through his stomach. Artemis didn't look as beautiful when she was sad, and that made Percy sad. _

_He just stood next to her, with his hand on her shoulder, until she finished her weeping. She stood up, wiped her eyes, and made her way back towards Hades palace._

_And then Percy was on the streets of Olympus, where he saw Hermes going for a run. Then Artemis appeared, and Hermes stopped to talk to her. Percy went closer to hear what they were saying. _

_"How was the trip?" he asked, a smile on his face, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. _

_She looked at him with a cold face. "It doesn't matter. What did you need in return?" By this point, Hermes face had turned flat. Artemis looked like she just lost one of her closest hunters again. _

_"Umm, you know, uh, let's just call it even. For that time I stole Apollo's cattle. Sure, I repaid him with a lute, but I am sure that was still extremely damaging on his pride. So, uh, yeah, no worries," he replied. It was obvious he didn't want to make Artemis upset. Artemis just nodded her head and walked towards the throne room. Percy followed behind._

_"Artemis, what brings you to the hearth?" asked Hestia. _

_"Percy is gone, Hestia. He is never coming back," she replied, her face drooping with each word. _

_Hestia nodded her head. "I was afraid he would do something like this. Where did he go?" _

_"Tartarus," she replied, bluntly. Hestia's eyes widened for a second, then she nodded in conciliation. _

_"I assumed he would take it that far."_

_A tear shed down Artemis' cheek. Hestia looked at her in surprise. "In the millennia I've known you Artemis, I've never seen you cry. Not even after the death of Ms. Nightshade." _

_Artemis tried to wipe the tear away, but more came after. She took a deep gulp. "I don't know why," she replied. Percy just stood there in silence. He accomplished his task, but it looked like he ended up hurting somone in the process. Someone as beautiful as Artemis. _

**Thank you for reading. I hope you guys are staying safe from the virus. Have a great day**


	9. Chapter 9

Percy woke up from fainting. His mind immediately went to the dream he had about Artemis, which made him sad. He didn't like seeing that she was upset about him, especially since he'd be stuck in Tartarus forever. Beyond that, he was also upset that he didn't feel satisfied. All he had focused this last month on was destroying Hyperion to avenge the death of Annabeth. To him, that was all that mattered. He did it knowing that he'd spend the rest of his time here. He thought knowing Hyperion was dead would leave him content for the rest of his existence.

But now, Percy wanted out. The only issue was how. From his research, he thought the only way out was through the Doors of Death. So that's what he decided to do.

He got up, and quickly fell down on his face. He drained all of his powers summoning the sword with water to make Hyperion fade. Slowly, but surely, he got back up. He followed the River Phlegethon, drinking the water when he needed.

On occasion he would see a monster or two. However, without a coordinated attack, they stood no match for him.

After walking for what seemed like eternity, Percy decided to rest. He found a little cave inside of a rocky hill, covered the entrance, and laid his head on a rock. It wasn't the best way to fall asleep, but Tartarus wasn't known for its convenience. He drifted into the realms of Hypnos.

_Artemis had just made her way to Camp Half Blood, where she had left her hunters. She walked towards the forest, seeing that no one was around the cabins or dining pavilion. When she passed a clearing, she saw the classic campers vs. hunters capture the flag match. And she was only able to witness the end of it, watching Thalia cross the center line with the camper's flag. _

_Chiron cleared his throat. "And with their 57th win in a row, the hunters maintain their three century winning streak." All of the hunters cheered, while the campers looked defeated. Percy saw Travis and Connor throw their shields against a tree in anger. _

_Chiron turned around and noticed Artemis. "Ahh, if it isn't Lady Artemis. A pleasure to see you, milady," he welcomed with a bow. Artemis gave Chiron a small smile. "Thank you, Chiron. It is nice to see you as well. I am here to pick up the hunters." _

_All of the hunters noticed Artemis and ran over to her. "Lady Artemis, did you find Percy?" "Where was he?" "Did you just leave him to die? That's what I would have done." Artemis tried to remain as ambivalent as she could after hearing all of their opinionated responses. _

_"Sisters, you will all know in due time. For now, let us pack up." All the hunters were left a bit unsatisfied, but at the same time, leaving the campers wasn't the worst thing in the world for them._

_Percy looked right at Artemis, who was still in her older form. He could see the emotions she was trying to hide from them. The more he looked at her, the more he wished he could see her in person. She looked like, well, a goddess. And he never really came to see how pretty she was when the possibility of turning into a jackalope was on the table. But now, stuck in Tartarus, he was free to make as many opinions of her as he wished. He thought she looked beautiful. Everything about her screamed 'not trying', and yet, it came so easy for her. _

_What really got him going was her eyes. They were similar to Annabeth's, but at the same time, different. If Annabeth's were the storm, then Artemis' were the moon after the clouds cleared away. That sense of optimism made him happy. He had to get out of Tartarus. The storm was over._

Percy awoke, and hit his head on the ceiling of the cave he was in. He followed his path for a while, until he saw the Doors of Death. There were a few monsters here and there, but for the most part, a clear path.

So he fought all of the monsters and found himself at the door. He noticed that it was held down with chains and locks to prevent opening. However, Percy already knew how to fix that problem. He willed the water from the river to enter all of the cavities of the locks, froze them, and opened them. He then looked at the mechanism to get out. It was an elevator. He then noticed the problem. It required someone holding the button from the outside for the person (or monster) to go up.

He had an idea. He found a dead tree nearby and wedged it between the button and the ground. Then, he quickly ran over to catch the elevator.

It didn't even move. It must have sensed that there wasn't a person holding it down, so it refused to work. After thinking of different ways to enter (such as using a monster's amputated hand, but then remembering that they turn to gold dust when they die), Percy decided there was only one way out.

Back the way he came.

Percy walked back down the river. Although there was no sun for a reference point, he perceived it as around 3 days worth of walking. When he made it back to the beginning, where he landed, he took a look up. He couldn't even see the top. Not even close.

But he knew it was his only way out. Percy willed some of the river water to turn into frozen picks, and he made sure they were extra sharp. And all that was left to do was climb the ridiculously tall cliff. Which he also didn't know if it was possibly.

When he planted his ice pick into the cliff, much of it crumbled away, although it did stick. He put in the next pick, and the same thing happened. He kept climbing until he was about 100 feet off the ground. He looked at how far he had gone, and then looked up. He didn't know how long this would take him. And then, the cliff gave away, and Percy fell back to where he started.

He continued this for days. One time, he thought he maybe saw the edge of the cliff, but he wasn't sure. What scared him the most was if this was just him reliving the story of Sisyphus- no matter how high he climbed, he would surely fall. But then there was a moment where he took a rest, leaning against the cliff. The image of Artemis popped back into his mind. As stupid as this was, he was starting to really admire the eternal maiden, Goddess of the Hunt. But he just couldn't help it. As of that moment, Percy had an Annabeth-sized whole in his heart. He didn't think it would ever be filled. But when he imagined Artemis, like that night where she danced with him, that moment after where she smacked him, his heart started to feel butterflies.

"I'm going to find you, Artemis. I know that you and I can never be together, but I need to see you. Someone as beautiful as you cannot live being sad because of me." And with that, he stood back up and tried again. His eyes started to glow with sea green light (although he remained unaware of that). Slowly, he made his way higher than he had ever gone before. And then he saw it, the top of the cliff. He remained calm. Any moment of excitement could be the end of it.

And before he knew it, he was only a couple feet away from the top. His muscles burned with each and every movement. And then, his hand reached the ledge, and then his other. With the last bit of his energy, he pulled himself over the edge.

He immediately puked. It wasn't pretty. But weeks after making a Titan fade, Percy Jackson exceeded the impossible and escaped Tartarus.

**Is this the second or third chapter I've written today?! I honestly can't remember. What I do know is that I am really enjoying writing this story. I hope you are too. Have a great day. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello, I am posting this now, but I haven't edited it yet. My apologies if there are a few mistakes, I will fix it tonight!**

While the rest of the hunt were sleeping in their tents, Artemis was on the move. She didn't like her attachment to Percy Jackson at all. Not only was it affecting how others perceived her, but it made her question her very purpose in life. Although she never let herself follow the chain of ideas that led to being sad about Percy, she was sure that the source was something wrong with her core desires.

So she decided to remind herself why she lived the life she did. She was going to go for a hunt. Hopefully, she would get some venison to share with the hunters for breakfast. She lingered behind a bush, as stealthy and quiet as an owl. She looked out in front of her and saw a stag eating grass. She slowly raised her bow behind the bush and aimed at the deer.

_crckk_

The deer heard the noise and ran away. Artemis looked down and noticed that she stepped on a twig. She responded with anger. She was losing her game. She wasn't on top of things like she used to. All because she failed her mission of saving Percy. It took her three tries to catch her food that night, and she was not a happy camp- erh, hunter.

* * *

Meanwhile, Percy was stuck in the Underworld. And in his situation, that was a marvelous and beautiful thing compared to Tartarus. To Percy, the musty air of the Underworld was refreshing and calming compared to the lethal vapors down below.

How did Percy plan to escape this place? The same way he escaped Tartarus- back from where he came.

He walked past Hades castle and didn't care if was noticed this time. And sure enough, there he was.

"Nephew, I didn't expect to see you," Hades called. "Wow, you look absolutely terrible," he said with curiosity.

Percy looked down and noticed he was right. His hoodie was full of holes, and his pants were rags at this point.

"You know Artemis just came to look for you. Well, I mean, about a month or two ago. You must have hidden pretty well." He leaned in. "So tell me, where did you hide?" Hades inquired.

"Tart-" Percy coughed. The last time he talked was when he battled Hyperion. His throat wasn't ready. "Tartarus," he replied again.

Hades eyes widened. "Impossible," he mused. "Not in all my life-"

Percy just shook his shoulders. "Yeah, I'm not sure how that worked out."

"How did you get out?" he asked.

"I climbed my way out," Percy replied. Hades eyes widened even further, and his facial expression screamed both 'what the me' (cuz he's Hades) and 'that shouldn't be possible'.

"You can't. That's not possible. Not by a mortal. Not even by a god or titan. No one can escape Tartarus by climbing back up. A spell was put on it by the Fates themselves that anyone who tried to climb it would surely fail."

There was a moment of silence. "Well, I'm just glad I'm back," Percy said.

Hades face turned to one of curiosity and amusement. "And what exactly do you plan to do now?"

"Escape the Underworld," Percy replied. "It shouldn't be too hard compared to Tartarus."

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that? The only one with permission to come and go is Hermes. The rest must use the pearls."

Percy just shrugged his shoulders. "I plan on leaving the way I came."

Hades looked upwards, pondering. "That also is prevented in ancient laws. There are only a few ways to leave this place, and that one is prohibited."

"Well, I'm going to try it. If it doesn't work, I'll let you know. If it does, it was nice seeing you Uncle Hades," Percy replied.

Hades shook his head in disbelief. "You know, I usually hate my brothers' children. But you intrigue me, Perseus Jackson. If you are capable of leaving, I give you the permission to enter my domain whenever you desire. Best of luck to you." And with that, he was gone with the shadows.

Percy made his way towards the River Styx. He remembered when he came here with Nico, and he dipped in the water. He remembered seeing Annabeth, and how she anchored him to reality. He wondered who he would see now if he jumped in. He imagined that person may be different than before. He found an old row boat on the shore and willed it to take him upstream. He realized that it wasn't difficult for him at all. Before he knew it, he was at the entrance of the Underworld.

He walked through it, assuming he would be back at DOA Recording Studios, but everything turned white.

Percy noticed his consciousness letting go.

_Percy was standing in a totally white place. Remember when Squidward was "alone" in that one dimension from the time machine. Almost the same thing here. He looked around, but didn't see anything. He looked at himself, and noticed he was wearing his Camp Half Blood apparel. "How did that happen?" he asked out-loud. _

_"Perseus Jackson!" He looked up to the screeching voice, and he wanted to pee his new pants. Standing before him were the three Fates themselves. _

_The lady on the right spoke. "You foolish mortal, what have you done?" she asked accusingly._

_"I don't know what you are talking -"_

_"SILENCE" the one in the center shouted. "You have made a grave mistake, Perseus Jackson." _

_"How did I do that?" he asked. He had no clue._

_"That fading spell you summoned was against the ancient laws. Of course you would have known that if you would have read the footnote of Homer's manuscript." She recited the passage: "Any mortals who dare use this cursed spell will remove themselves from the laws of the universe, as well as detract themselves from the Fates, themselves."_

_Percy looked at them confused. "And what is wrong with that?" he asked._

_"Foolish, foolish boy," the one on the left spoke. "You have removed yourself from the causal chain of events that keep this universe going. An event happens. People react to it. All of this follows the codes of Nature as well as our own jurisdiction. You have separated that link, boy. Because you have disrupted fate, anyone you interact with will also suffer the same loss of nature's course, as you are not supposed to be a part of it. Then, when that person, whose destiny is destroyed, interacts with another person, so too will that persons destiny be destroyed."_

_The lady in the middle spoke, "Did you really think you could have escaped Tartarus or the Underworld, otherwise? No, you broke yourself from the order of the universe. You are now a force of chaos. If you meet just a single person, the causal chain will ripple just like the butterfly effect. It will start with one person, then two, then four. Before you know it, the whole world is disconnected from fate and order." _

_He opened up his arms. "I still don't see how this is a bad thing. You guys have caused the death of millions of people. And they weren't deserved. You have done so much harm to everyone." _

_The lady on the right spoke, "That's what you think, Jackson. We maintain the order of the planet. Without us, chaos and anarchy will take over. You are a bane to all of Olympus now. You cannot swear on the Styx anymore and have it mean anything. You are a loose cannon, Perseus. If you meet someone, all of their obligations will be gone as well."_

_"Including your precious Artemis," the lady in the center spoke. "If you do come into contact with her, she will lose her obligation to remain an eternal maiden. And so, if you ever meet her and 'swoon' her into liking you, just know that it will never be real. If that does happen, it is because you disrupted the natural order and her destiny. Is that what you want, Perseus Jackson? Be grateful, we did everything in our power to prevent Hades' destiny from being destroyed when you talked to him. But we cannot continue it anymore."_

_They all spoke in unison. "You are a force of Chaos, Mr. Jackson. Beware. You will bring this world into a spiral of disorder."_

Percy woke up to the sounds of sea gulls and waves. He looked up and found himself at the beach where he battled Ares. He remembered his dream, and his stomach felt like a rock slammed right through it.

**Thank you for reading! Have a great day. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys, quick note, just to prevent any plot holes. Please re-read the end of last chapter. Or, here it is: the Fates prevented Percy from altering Hades destiny, but they cannot control him anymore. It would be too much. However, now, whenever he meets someone, that person will not be in the causal chain of fate, and every person that person meets will lose it as well (just to reclarify). Please enjoy, and if you don't mind leaving a review, I'd greatly appreciate it (just to make sure you guys are liking where it's going).**

"Everyone, welcome to the Winter Solstice council meeting. On the shortest day of the year, we adjourn to discuss the ways to preserve Olympus. We are here with our brother Hades. Where shall we begin? Athena," motioned Zeus.

"Things are looking well, father. The demigods out in the world are living without fear, as monsters are barely attacking. It appears that all of Kronos' forces who survived have fled as far as possible."

Zeus shook his head in delight. "That is excellent news, Athena."

The Olympians went on to discuss other political and social events occurring in the world. Before long, Percy Jackson was brought up.

Zeus looked at his family contemplatively. "Hmm, and any word on Percy Jackson?"

Poseidon shook his head. "The last one who saw him was Artemis. She..." he lowered his voice in sadness. "She saw him jumping into Tartarus." The whole council sat there in shock. The flames of the hearth seemed to diminish greatly.

"What he says is true," Artemis replied. "I tried to talk him out of it, but..." her voice started to falter. She put on her brave face, trying to convince everyone (and mainly herself), that she was in no way affected by the boy, Percy Jackson. "He told me he had to do it. And he just let himself go. He didn't seem concerned in the slightest. It was all he cared about." Everyone went silent. All that was heard was the occasional crack of the hearth's firewood.

"And that is the last we have heard of him?" Zeus asked. Artemis and Poseidon nodded their heads.

"Brother, if I may." Everyone gazed towards Hades, who sat in his impromptu throne for the occasion.

"Why yes, Hades. Say your piece," Zeus replied, motioning him to continue.

"What they said was true. But, it's not the whole truth." Everyone looked at him confused.

"What is that supposed to mean, brother. This better not be leading to a stupid joke," Poseidon warned.

Hades looked at him without fear. "What I am about to tell you, even I couldn't make up. Percy did indeed find his way to Tartarus. However," everyone seemed to be on the edge of their seats, especially Artemis, who was gripping the handle of her throne so hard, her knuckles were turning white. "I saw him, erh, afterwards."

Poseidon stood up, grabbing his trident. "This isn't funny, Hades!" Hades put his arms up in defense.

"What I am about to tell you, I swear on the Styx is true." Poseidon gave him a skeptical look and sat back down.

"I saw Percy after he made the jump. He escaped Tartarus."

"Impossible," Zeus and Poseidon said at the same time. They gave each other a look, and then looked away.

"Again, what I am saying is the truth. I found him walking past my palace weeks after Artemis left empty-handed. She never told me where he had gone. I assumed he was going to Elysium to visit Annabeth. I knew it was prohibited for the living to do, but I knew my Furies would stop him in his tracks." Everyone stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

"Anyways, I didn't think much of it, and then he was back by my castle, nearly a month later. I asked him where he was. Tartarus! He never told me why he went down there to begin with, but he said that he climbed his way back up."

Everyone sat there in shock. Not even the gods could escape Tartarus.

Hades continued, "That's not all. He told me he was just going to leave the Underworld after. If anyone would have told me that on its own, I wouldn't have believed them. But he just came back from Tartarus! So, after weeks, when I never saw him again, I just thought to myself, 'he did it'."

Zeus put his face in his hands, like it was too much for his brain (although everyone was feeling that way).

"Hades, are you claiming that Percy Jackson, a demigod, mortal boy, escaped Tartarus and then just decided he was going to 'walk out' of the Underworld?" Zeus asked.

Hades just shook his head. "That is correct, brother." Zeus looked over to Athena, who had a concerned look on her face. She mouthed, 'we need to talk' to him, which Artemis noticed.

"Well, I think we all need some time to think about that. I am going to reserve any judgment or initiative for now, and I suggest you all do the same. Council dismissed," he boomed.

After the meeting, Artemis pretended to walk out, but she stood at the door, as Athena and Zeus were talking inside.

"Father, this isn't good. This isn't good at all," she told him.

"What do you mean Athena?"

"No one would willingly jump into Tartarus for nothing, and then escape. This isn't a Houdini act. There are two questions here: why and how. The how question is easier. As far as we know, it is impossible to escape Tartarus by simply 'climbing back' up it. The same mechanism to prevent it is used for Sisyphus in the Fields of Punishment. Anyone under the jurisdiction of fate cannot do it, but he did. Which leads me to why he jumped in the first place. If I am correct, Percy found something he shouldn't have. Something very, very terrible, that was meant to be hidden from all."

"And what would that be?" Zeus asked.

"He found the oldest manuscript of Homer, which included," she seemed to stumble on her word.

"What, Athena?"

"He found out how to make an immortal fade. If my theory is correct, he assumed one of the Titan's put the curse on Annabeth, so he went down there to fade that person. Then, he managed to escape both Tartarus and the Underworld because of the consequence, not being bound by fate."

Zeus looked at her shocked. "What does this mean, Athena? He knows how to kill us all."

She shook her head. "That is indeed what we know. However, who knows what he is capable of. He is bound to nothing. Not our rules, not the world, not even the Fates. I know that you would want him to swear on the Styx not to make any more immortals fade, but he cannot even do that anymore. His obligations and ties to anything mean nothing. And let's not forgot he exhibited the power of a god when Annabeth died." Although Athena did not know about Percy causing the causal fabric to rip whenever he met anyone, she knew that he was the biggest threat to Olympus.

Zeus looked upset. "Then what is there to do?"

"We have to destroy him. He is as dangerous as any titan, including Hyperion or Kronos."

Zeus shook his head. "Very well. I will send out the minor gods and demigods to find him and, if necessary, kill him."

Athena shook her head, hesitantly. "Yes father. And I think we have one advantage. If he is not bound by the Styx, he is not immortal, so that should save us a lot of time."

"Good," Zeus replied. Then he left with a strike of lightning.

Artemis stood outside in shock of what she had just heard. Percy Jackson was now the enemy of Olympus, and Zeus wanted him dead or alive.

**Thank you for reading. Hope you guys understand the whole "causal chain" thing (I'm in a philosophy class). Anyways, as I said before, a review would be great just to make sure you guys enjoy it. Have a great day!**


	12. Chapter 12

Percy Jackson was hiding somewhere in Washington. He avoided everything. He tried not to touch anything, as it could start off a whole series of events and lead to that "breaking of the universal fabric". No one saw him. As far as he could tell, no one was looking for him.

When he did need to do things, such as eating, he took a very calculated approach. He only ate wild berries and mushrooms, which was a gamble on his own. Also, he noticed his invincibility was gone as well, leaving him quite susceptible to anything.

As for his future, he didn't have any idea what he was going to do. He thought about living alone, like a hermit who was never seen again. However, he hated the idea of that. He wondered if he should just keep eating the mushrooms until he found one that ended his life. Hopefully that would spare him from this misfortune.

So he kept walking in the forests. He tended to sleep during the day and walk at night, hoping to avoid anyone even looking at him. He didn't know how much damage he could do. However, that came at a couple of costs. He had trouble finding his way through the forest. When he was with the hunters, they seemed to do it easily. However, he kept tripping and skidding his legs on rocks and branches.

But that wasn't the only reason going at night was miserable. Every night, he had to look up to the moon for guidance. And that reminded him of Artemis. He would always think back to the moment before he jumped into Tartarus. Would it have been so bad? Hyperion would have been down there, but it's not like he could have enjoyed it. He could have left with Artemis and have the chance to talk to her, at least. The face she made when he let himself fall haunted his memories. She was so beautiful, yet scared and concerned. And he fell away from that. And now he was never going to see her or anyone else again.

He walked up by a large mushroom growing in the ground. He hadn't seen this one before, but he was willing to take the risk. He plucked it out of the ground and was about to eat it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Percy looked around quickly. His heart immediately started to pound heavily in his chest. If this person interacted with him anymore, they could lose their destiny, and then either spread it, or... he would have to prevent that from happening.

"Go away, now. It's for your own good. Pretend you never saw me, go!" he called into the darkness, not knowing where the voice came from.

The voice just chuckled a little bit and laughed. "Ha ha, there's nothing to be afraid of, Percy. Not with me, after all."

Percy backed into a tree, looking around him. He started to reach for Riptide. "Please, just go. I don't want to cause you any harm."

The voiced snickered some more. "Oh Percy, don't be afraid." Immediately, something... rather, someone, flashed in front of him. It was a man, wearing all white. His skin was pale, it seemed to match his outfit. His hair was brown and about the length of Percy's. In his right hand was a staff of some sort. On the wrist of his other hand was a watch that Percy had never seen before. It had all of these different movements, and a skeleton body, so all the gears could be seen.

"Who-who are you?" Percy asked, with a bit of fear laced in his voice. He was in a vulnerable position after all, without the curse of Achilles.

"You and I probably shouldn't get along, that's for sure," the man joked. Percy looked into his eyes and was amazed. They looked like galaxies.

"After all, I am the stability of the universe. And you, well... it seems like you are destroying that, Mr. 'Defying Fate'," he quipped. Percy just stood there.

"It's alright though. I've always had sympathy for the Earthlings, especially the demigods. You guys have it rough. You're like mortals with more responsibility. Like gods with more weaknesses. And that's not including being their play things. I knew things would go bad when you performed that fading spell. Because you are not in line with fate, whoever you meet will be encountering a 'loose cause', and be thrown off of their trajectory. Hmm, I believe Aristotle called that the _telos._ Clever guy, Aristotle. Plato was too, but Socrates was my favorite for sure," he mused to himself.

"Who are you?" Percy asked. The man just laughed.

"Oh Percy, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out. I'm Order."

Percy looked at him with a bit of fear. "Like _the_ Order, with a capital 'O'?" he asked.

Order did a bow. "The one and 'O'-nly," he joked. Percy just stood there. Order summoned a fire and then a couple of logs for them to sit on.

"Please, sit," he asked. Percy did with slight hesitation. "You look hungry, Percy. Here, let's get some food cooking." He snapped his fingers, and a tripod stood above the fire. Hanging from it was a grill with different kinds of meats and vegetables.

Percy looked at him and saw him holding a stick with two marshmallows.

He looked at Percy like he was caught-in-the-act of something. "My apologies, did you want to make one, too?" he asked. Percy shook his head. "No thank you," he replied.

"Yeah, as I was saying, you are in a bad situation. Just your very existence is altering reality in a chaotic and unorderly fashion, which isn't good," he mused.

"What should I do about it?" Percy asked. Order nodded his head.

"Good question. Well, there are a couple of things. I can send you to a remote planet where you can live in solidarity for the rest of your mortal life. Or you can stay here, but just uh, don't try to contact anyone. Just remember, it's alright to see. But just do not be seen. If I were you, I would set up shop somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It's not the worst thing you could do."

"Is there anyway at all that I could contact someone?" Percy asked hopefully.

Order looked up for a second, as if he forgot something. "You know, the usual answer is no when mortals break the universal order of things. But I've never had this happen, and I'll make an exception for you." He conjured an envelope in his hand. "Here, take this. This envelope cannot be effected by your chaos. You can send it to whoever, and their destiny will not be altered. But use it well, I don't want anyone looking for you."

Percy looked at him. "And then what do I do?" he asked.

"Like I said, you'll have to live alone, barred away from society for the rest of your life. But don't just pick random berries and mushrooms. You may think death is the best choice, but it never is. Life is too precious," Order said, looking off into the distance. It appeared that he was thinking of someone in particular when he said that.

"Anyways Percy, I should go. Gotta make sure the Earth doesn't fall off its axis... literally. But stay safe, and whatever you do, do not be seen," he said in a surprisingly cheerful manner considering the content of his words. And then he was gone, and Percy was left at the fire alone.

He took the food off the tripod, but he wasn't interested in eating it right now. For the moment, he had to write someone a letter.

* * *

Artemis had once deployed her hunters to search for Percy. This time, she was extra focused. If anyone else found him, they would send him to Olympus, where he would be killed or locked up for eternity.

She found herself on top of the Rocky Mountains, trying to get a good vantage point. But honestly, she had no clue where to look. But her motivation to keep trying no matter what never diminished.

She saw a bald eagle fly below her, and a solemn smile appeared on her face. It reminded her of Percy. Not the eagle, but the fish it had in its mouth.

She started to walk down the mountain, jumping from rock to rock. She was about to teleport somewhere else, when something flew out of the air. She looked down, and there was a letter. _To Artemis_ it had, written in shaky handwriting. It looked familiar to her.

She opened the contents.

_Dear Artemis, _

_I'm sure you are wondering where I am. If you didn't know, I'm back in the overworld. _

_The reason I went to Tartarus was to destroy Hyperion, which I did. I didn't just let him respawn, I made him fade with this ancient spell I found. That spell came at a serious price, which I was unaware of. I am not bounded by fate anymore. I thought that was a good thing, but it also means I am not apart of the universal order. If I appear in anyone's time line, it will send their trajectory of life away from 'Destiny'. At first, I thought that wasn't really a bad thing, but it turns out the consequences could be bad. _

_Do not look for me. Do not let anyone look for me. If anyone finds me, they will not be bound to ancient laws. I lost my immortality, but who knows what others could lose if they came in contact with me. _

_Because you can never see me again, I am confident telling you something that I never would have before. Artemis, the moments I had with you in the past keep replaying in my head. When I remember your reaction to me jumping into Tartarus, I get sad. No one as beautiful as you should ever have that expression. You deserve nothing but happiness. _

_I don't know if things would have ever worked out between us. You probably wish you could be turning me into a rabbit right now for even saying this stuff. And I'm sorry, but I just had to say it. _

_You are beautiful, Artemis. Don't miss me. You're too pretty to be sad for someone like me. _

_Percy._

**Thanks for reading. I'll edit this later, (perhaps change some of the letter. If so, I'll let you know in the next chapter and ask you to look back at this ending) but I hope you liked it. Have a great day**


	13. Chapter 13

Artemis sat on a rock looking at the letter she received four years ago. She always kept it in her pocket for reassurance. There was always the part of her that wanted to keep looking for him, but she knew it wasn't the right thing to do. This was the closest thing she had to remembering him. She remembered afterwards, how Olympus went into disarray. She never showed them the whole letter, but she was able to make Zeus call off all of the task forces looking for him.

Percy had gone from the hero of Olympus to the bane of it. Zeus knew there was nothing to do but hope he never found his way anywhere near him.

She stood up from the rock and walked back to camp.

"Ladies, attention." All the girls stopped what they were doing and listened to Artemis. "I am going somewhere, and I won't be back till later tonight. Thalia, you're in charge," Artemis spoke.

"Where are you going, milady?" asked Ariadne. Artemis didn't know what to say.

She sort of lied. "I am going to take a personal day today. I haven't seen what is going on with recent mortal affairs, so I am going to go and, um, check it out." All of the girls looked at her with suspicion, but they knew better than to push it any further.

And then she was off.

* * *

_knock knock_

Artemis was in New York City, standing outside of an apartment. The door was opened by a middle-aged man whose hair was slightly graying.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" he asked her.

"Is Sally Jackson home? I need to talk to her," Artemis told him. The man opened the door.

"Uh, sure. I'm Paul by the way. Come on in," he told her. She stepped inside to a small, but quaint apartment. It looked decent for a family of two. She looked down and saw baby toys and a rocker. Make that three.

"And, what's your name?" he asked.

"Artemis," she told him. His eyes widened. Paul was no stranger to Greek mythology, especially after the war with Kronos, where he sparred with and defeated a dracaenae. He stood there for a moment, thinking intently about ever word he said to her.

"I'll let her know you're here. She's with the baby right now." He scurried away.

Artemis stood on the welcome mat for a couple seconds, and then Sally came out of a room.

"Lady Artemis," she welcomed, giving a slight bow. "Please, take a seat." She ushered Artemis towards the sofa, and then sat in the reclining chair next to it.

"What brings you here?" she asked. Artemis noticed all of the pictures she had of Percy when he was little. She inwardly smiled. He was a cute kid.

"Has Poseidon talked to you recently?" Artemis asked in response. Sally seemed to straighten out a bit with concern.

"No, he hasn't. But then again, neither has Percy." Her face fell to a frown. "Is he alright? I haven't seen him in years. After Annabeth died, I never saw him again." Her eyes were on the verge of tears.

Artemis thought about how she should say this next part. "As far as I know, Percy is alright." Sally's face looked relieved. "However, he has found himself in a lot of trouble."

"What did he do?" she asked.

"There's no good way to put this, but, he went into Tartarus and killed the Titan who killed Annabeth. And by kill, I mean he made him fade," she told Sally. Sally looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"He made a Titan fade? Is that even possible. And please tell me he's not stuck in Tartarus," she pleaded. Artemis tried to relax her body. She wanted Sally to think things were somewhat okay.

"He's not in Tartarus. He's not even in the Underworld. When he killed the Titan, he used an ancient incantation, which came at a price. Although that consequence allowed him to escape Tartarus and the Underworld, he is in hiding. He is a danger to the world as we know it," Artemis responded. Saying it to Sally brought back all of the emotions she had experience before, but she tried her best to mask them.

"Why is he hiding?" she asked.

Artemis looked at her in the eyes. "I don't really know how to put it. But if he is seen, the structure of the world could fall apart," she replied.

Sally looked like she was trying to grasp what she was saying, as well as not burst out in tears. "All because of the spell?" she replied.

Artemis shook her head. "Yes. Percy's loyalty led him to do whatever it took to avenge Annabeth's death. So he found the spell, went to the Underworld without a way to escape, and then willingly fell into Tartarus."

"And then he escaped both of them?" she asked.

"Yes," Artemis replied.

"And Olympus hasn't done anything to find him?"

"We are unable to do so. Zeus has been hoping to never see him again. If he did, Olympus could fall into chaos."

Sally sat there for a couple of minutes, and Artemis felt helpless. She knew that she needed to tell her this, but it wasn't easy.

After a while, Sally shook her head. "Thank you, Artemis. I know you didn't like telling me this, but I feel better knowing he is alright."

Artemis nodded her head and stood up. She was about to leave. She opened the door, and paused.

"By the way, Sally. You raised a good man. The best I have ever met," she told her. She felt her eyes turning watery, and left before anyone could notice.

* * *

Percy had done a great job of hiding over the last couple of years. To say he'd changed as a person would have been an understatement. He was almost 18, although he didn't really know anything other than the year and the season. He had grown to be around 6'1 or 6'2. Although he didn't have a mirror, he looked like a god. He even was starting to grow a beard.

Life had been difficult, although he had found a new hiding spot- lakes. He didn't have to wander around and worry about being caught (nor did he worry about being 'caught' by a fisherman). Currently, he spent his time in probably the safest place for him. Crater Lake in Oregon. He learned about this lake when he was younger. It was the deepest lake in the United States, although he didn't know its exact depth.

He spent his time at the bottom of the lake. When he needed food, he would catch a fish and cook it underwater.

He didn't enjoy it at all, but he didn't really have any other choice.

He went up to the surface of the lake, since it was nighttime. He looked up to see a full moon. He found a fallen tree and sat on it. He looked at the moon often, but he had never seen it so bright before. It was like Artemis was calling him.

He started to talk to himself. Or at least he tried. He hadn't used his vocal chords in a couple of months. He cleared his throat. "I wish I could see you," he mumbled to himself. "I don't even need to talk to you, I just want to know you are alright."

He felt a presence flash next to him. But unlike the time he met Order, he didn't care. If there was anything evil after him, they could take him.

"Beautiful night," a feminine voice told him.

"Indeed," he replied. He looked over, and next to him was a woman wearing all black. Her clothes seemed to have stars on it, but they looked real. They shimmered like the sky above. He looked at her eyes, and he saw galaxies.

"If I were to bet, I'd say you are Chaos," he asked.

She had an amused smile on her face "What gave it away?" she asked.

"Your eyes. Just like your brother's," he replied. "What brings you here?"

She sat up. "You know, I've never had such a casual conversation with a mortal. Most of the time they're scared and thinking I'm going to do something to them. It makes me wonder what you humans taught in your ancient mythology. My brother and I are different, but we're pretty chill."

A smile grew on Percy's face. He looked back up to the moon. "Yeah, Order wasn't as strict as I thought he would."

"Anyways, Percy, I heard your wish. I want to help you," she told him.

"What? Was there a shooting star or something when you heard me?" he asked rhetorically.

She chuckled. "Actually Percy, I've been keeping close tabs on you. After all, it seems like you are one of my disciples."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, you are an agent of chaos in the literal sense. Beyond that, I admire you, Percy. You aren't like most other demigods I've seen in the drama of Earth. You are a good person from the very core. Exactly how I envisioned humanity, and the gods, to behave," she complimented. He just sat there in silence, his eyes never leaving the moon.

"You know Percy, life is a balance. There's a ying and a yang. When you think about it, both are dependent on one another. What would a hero be if there wasn't a villain to face? What good would my creation have been without my brother making sure things functioned properly?" she pondered.

Percy nodded his head. "I guess that makes sense." A moment of silence swept over them. "But why are you telling me this?" he asked.

She smiled, "Percy, right now, you're living your life at one end of the spectrum. You thought you were a problem to everything, so you hid. But that's no way to live life. You said you wanted to see Artemis, so why don't you?"

"I can't, it'll ruin the whole fate thing."

"Who told you that?" she asked.

"The Fates," he replied.

She made a sort of cringed face. "I never really liked them. My brother sent them to the planets to maintain order. But they leave no room for creation or choice. Only a determined structure to reality. My brother had a good reason for sending them to the planets, but believe me, Percy, you should take the risk. Would Artemis noticing you be a problem? Yes. But who said she had to notice you?" she asked him.

"How do I do that?" he asked her. She smiled and lifted her hand.

"With this." A ring appeared in her hand. "Now, I know you mortals talked about this about two millennia back, but it's real. The Ring of Gyges. Twist it, and you will turn invisible." She set it in his hand.

"Thanks, but why are you doing this for me?" he asked her.

She smiled. "I like you, Percy Jackson. You remind me of the good from my creation. Maybe we will see each other again sometime, but if not, the pleasure was all mine." She stood up and opened a portal in front of her. She was about to step in.

"Oh, and Percy. There always have to be order in a chaotic world. And the Fates do deliver that. But they do not have to be the only ones to bring balance."

He looked at her confused. "I'm sure you'll figure it out." She winked, stepped in the portal, and was gone.

Percy put the ring on his finger.

"I'm coming, Artemis.

**Thank you for reading. I'd appreciate a review to know if you like it or not. Have a great day.**


	14. Chapter 14

The next day, Percy made his way towards the East coast. He didn't know where to go, but he hoped to find the Hunters in the process.

The ring he was given by Chaos was amazing. Not only was he completely invisible, but he hardly made a sound unless he tried. The thought of seeing anyone or anything excited him. He hadn't seen a human in years.

He walked to the nearest town, and not much had changed. There were no flying cars (much to his dismay). But when he saw a Tesla drive by, he did have a few questions.

He was walking on the sidewalk when he came across a park. There were children playing there. It made him happy seeing the innocence of youth. He remembered the time when he had that luxury, although it was taken away from him too soon.

He walked from town to town for days. He didn't really know where to go, but he tried his hardest to concentrate on the seas, which gave him a bit of nautical skills. Eventually he made his way towards Yellowstone National Park. It was around three weeks after his talk with Chaos.

He saw wild bison running through the park. He got nervous. The hunters weren't likely to be here, because they would never hunt in an area where it was prohibited. However, he saw a hell hound on the opposite end of a large prairie. He saw two silver figures running after it.

"Yes!" he whispered to himself. He went over to the other end of the prairie, and the smile left his face.

There was a huge hoard of monsters attacking the Hunt. The Hunt was doing a good job, but Percy could tell that they were struggling, as the monsters slowly inched their way forward. Percy decided to help them. He turned on his ring. Then, he grabbed Riptide and started slaying monsters from the back. He hoped to stay unnoticed. He was invisible, but if he did anything out of the ordinary, it might have looked suspicious.

Percy did quick work with most of them, and the hunters finished off the rest. All of the hunters left the trees and bushes they were aiming from, and gathered together. With her back towards Percy was undoubtedly Artemis. Her auburn hair was vibrant in the moonlight. He managed to sneak his way closer towards the group.

"Well done sisters. I won't lie, I thought they were going to overpower us for a second. But we pulled through, and things worked out in our favor. Let's go back to camp," she told them.

She turned around to see what was left of the battleground, and Percy's heart nearly stopped. Oh, how he missed seeing her. She was as beautiful as ever. Percy noticed that she was in her eighteen year old form. He didn't know why, considering the rest of the group were sixteen at most.

He had no doubt that she would skin him alive for saying this, but she looked adorable. Her eyes always seemed to have a deceptive innocence to them. They reminded him of the Sirens in a sense. Her eyes could lure anyone to her, but she was not to be messed with. If the Sirens looked like her, Percy would have been a dead man from the start.

He followed them back to the campsite and climbed a tree to separate himself from them. To Percy, the hunters were timeless,. They literally hadn't changed their ways at all. Which made sense, since they were man-haters for eternity. They started a campfire and sat around it. They talked and laughed, including Artemis. When Artemis smiled with the firelight beaming up towards her face, he wanted to melt. He was so happy that she started to forget about him. He wasn't worth her time. She was an immortal goddess, and he was just an annoying demigod who was bound to get himself killed. The fact he was still alive amazed him.

After a while, the Hunters decided to call it a day. They put out the fire and went towards their tents.

"Good night, sisters. Tomorrow, we will be staying here in celebration of our victory," Artemis proclaimed. All of the Hunters cheered and went to bed.

Percy watched as Artemis made sure the fire was put out and the wolves were on guard. He got that tingling feeling in his heart, seeing her once again. He started to dream of how things could have been if he didn't use the fading spell. He knew it was wishful thinking to begin with, that the eternal maiden and Goddess of Virginity would want to be with him. But all he was left to do was imagine. And that was good enough for him.

However, it was perhaps too good. He lost his sense of reality and fell out of the tree, hitting many branches on the way down.

"Who's there?" Artemis called out. Percy quickly got up and made sure he was still invisible from before. He was, but the last thing he needed was Artemis being suspicious of him lurking around. She walked towards the site where he fell. She looked around for a while and then headed towards her tent.

That night, Percy decided to do the little things. He grabbed extra tinder from the forest and set it on their pile. He grabbed all of their eating utensils and brought them to a stream nearby. He willed the water to form a whirlpool, and set them in there to be cleaned. Any other thing he could do to help the hunt, he did.

The next morning, the Hunter's woke up for breakfast. Percy watched closely, hoping they wouldn't notice anything different. Thankfully, they didn't. Not even Artemis, who was eating her food on a tree stump. Percy watched her wipe the bacon grease off of her face. He inwardly chuckled. She was so cute.

Whenever Percy saw her, he never regretted his feelings for her. It didn't matter if they could never meet again. As far as Percy was concerned, this was the best available option. And heck, if he wasn't an Olympian outlaw, she wouldn't have dated him anyways. Percy knew she would never be interested in a guy like him, so a life-long crush was fine.

However, Percy did experience a little concern. Sometimes the Hunters would talk about how all men were evil and dumb, and she would be laughing, and then immediately frown, as if she was remembering someone. He knew it wasn't Orion, considering Artemis found out about him raping one of the hunters, so he was left confused. Nonetheless, he didn't enjoy seeing that frown, even if it was during a castration joke.

This pattern followed for a long time. The hunters would travel somewhere and fight some monsters. Sometimes Percy helped, if he thought they needed it. Afterwards, they would go to bed, and Percy would get to work, doing all of the little tasks that would go unnoticed to them. He spent most of his time sleeping during the day, as he spent hours fighting and managing the Hunt.

And as far as he was concerned, it was the best thing for him. Every day, he fell asleep with a smile on his face. Artemis couldn't see all of the things that he had done. But that didn't matter. She was happy. And that would be good enough for Percy until the day he died.

**No, that is not the ending. Just a happy little chapter. Not much plot. Don't worry, I have something good (I think) planned. This story is getting close to being done, so I hope you are enjoying it so far. Thank you so much for reading. Have a great day!**


	15. Chapter 15

Percy spent the majority of his time watching over the hunt, but sometimes he ventured to outside towns. He enjoyed the simplicity of human interactions. He missed them. His last two conversations were over the span of years, and both of them were with the oldest deities in the universe.

He was sitting on a park bench, watching a tee-ball game going on. He was always amused with how the kids acted during the game. They would hit the top of the ball and it would bud out a couple of feet. Then, they would run to first base like they were the Flash or Superman.

"Hello Percy," a feminine voice called to him. Chaos appeared on the bench next to him.

"Quite the game here," she snickered. "Who's winning?" she asked, amusingly.

Percy smiled. "If I had to guess, I'd say the Tiny Tikes, but half of their players are blowing dandelions in the outfield."

She looked over to him, leaning forward. "You miss this, don't you?"

"Oh, I never played tee-ball. I'm from New York," he replied.

She shook her head. "Not the game Percy. You miss social interactions. You enjoyed being around people. Whether it was the Stolls or Grover or Annabeth," she told him, "You are one of my most loyal creations. And loyalty requires doing something for something or someone else. And you've put your values in people." There was silence, and they both watched more of the game.

"And you've continued to do that, to the best of your ability. All of your little chores might go unnoticed to the Hunt and Artemis, but not the creator of the universe," she said. "You are destined to be loyal, Percy. It was built in the fiber of your very being."

He folded his hands together and rested his elbows on his knees. "I thought I wasn't destined to do anything," he commented. She shook her head.

"Do you remember what I told you last time we talked? Right before I left?" she asked.

He nodded. "You said that the Fates weren't the only ones who brought balance."

"Exactly," she agreed. "Balance takes different forms. There is the balance that is brought by order. And then there is balance that can be brought by chaos. Now, I know you mortals think that everything dissolves into a state of enthalpy and disorder, but that's not exactly true. When I say chaos, I mean the true freedom of choice. As things stand on Earth, this does not exist. My brother instituted a system where every event is exactly how it should be. It could be calculated and understood if enough variables were considered."

Percy seemed pretty shocked. Not because he was actually understanding a quasi-physics lesson. That would never happen. He just assumed that, as much as he hated their plan, the Fates were necessary for a universe. But he never considered that their power meant no ultimate choice. He knew that he couldn't escape the prophecies that were ordained, but he still felt that every choice was his own. It seemed like a "chose your own adventure" game, but really, it was more of a drama that was going to play its way out exactly as the Fates ordained, no matter how aware you were of each moment.

"So even the gods-"

"Yes, Percy," she replied. "Even the gods, as mighty as they may seem, are bound not only to ancient laws, but to the fabric of reality. They respond to a stimulus just like anyone else. The only difference is the amount of power in their response. And because of that, demigods and mortals below them have faith that they are the ones in charge. In reality, it is simply a matter of degrees to the same condition."

Percy thought about that. Even Poseidon and Artemis were bound to so many causes beyond their understanding. It reshaped how he viewed not only them, but the world.

"As of now, Percy, you are the only being, besides my brother and I, who can make free choices. You still have things that impose effects on you. But your choices and views of them are tied directly to your will and nothing else. Pretty liberating, isn't it?" she asked.

Percy shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure if I'd consider the life I've been living as 'free'," he replied. She nodded, and silence swept over the conversation.

They watched as the Smelly Sox started making some good plays. Tommy Wilson threw the ball from second to first base, and it only hit the ground twice.

"Well, Percy, that's why I'm here. I want things to be different for you," she told him. "How was my brother when you met him a couple of years ago?" she asked

"He seemed surprisingly nice. He cooked me food and tried to comfort me," he replied. Chaos nodded her head.

"My brother is good, but he has the potential to be quite stingy and concerned. What you didn't know, Percy, is that he was scared of you. Now don't get me wrong, my brother and I have gotten along well over the past eons. But if I had to guess, he suggested you stayed hidden from society, correct?" she asked. Percy nodded in agreement.

"Yes, he is very nervous of your potential," she reiterated.

"And why is that?"

"What he didn't tell you was another option for your future. I would have told you this the first time we met, but I needed to think it through more closely. Yes. Now, here's the thing, Percy, I will say it as blunt as I can. The Fates are just doing the bidding of my brother. And you are inherently doing the bidding for me with your natural chaos. The Fates try to prevent any form of that chaos in the world, because they fail to see another way to make things running properly. But Percy, at this point in the civilization of humans, I have faith in them. Sure, some of them are bad to the core, but most are just trying to make it by. People want what's best for themselves and their family. They fight the burden of existence every day. They see their loved ones die. They fail to meet others standards and then get hurt by it. Look at this game in front of us." Percy watched as the two teams formed lines and then started giving each other high-fives.

"Have you ever heard of the expression 'if you love something, set it free'?" she asked him. He nodded his head.

"That's what I want you to do, Percy. I want you to set everyone free," she told him.

"How do I do that?" he asked.

"Now, my brother was nice to you before. But he won't be after this. I'll try to convince him otherwise. If you want to free everyone, and in the process, go back to being with people, and hunters," she nudged his elbow, "then you have to render the Fates useless." His eyes widened.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"The Fates have to give up their control. And the only way to do that is by force. If you want to defeat the Fates, you have to take their yarn, needles, and scissors."

"What?" he asked. "It's that simple. I don't even have to fight or... kill them?" he asked.

"Those materials are nothing like the one's your grandma uses. That yarn is what tethers the Earth to its causes. That is the Destiny and ultimate order. The scissors are what ends someone's life. And the needles manipulate that reality to how they ordain it. It may seem simple, but it wont' be. If you are able to take them, I have no idea what it will do to your mortal body. Listen, you could try and make them fade, but it seems like you are past doing those stunts. All you have to do is take it away, and the Earth is literally in the palm of your hands," she told him. Although he wasn't about to pee his pants like some of the members of the Tiny Tikes, he was utterly shocked.

She stood up. "You can find the Fates if you know where to look," she told him with a wink. "But I do warn you. The Fates may not be able to control you, but they can control everything else around you. Be careful," she told him. She gave him one last smile, and she disappeared. Next to him was another envelope, similar to the one Order had given him.

Percy just sat there with his hands in his face.

**Thanks for reading, hope you liked it. Have a great day!**


	16. Chapter 16

_Dear Artemis, _

_I was lucky enough to receive another envelope to send a message to you. Don't ask where I get these from, it's too crazy for anyone to ever understand._

_After writing you that letter, I spent about three years living by myself. I essentially quarantined myself from the rest of the world, and for good reason. However, the person who gave me this letter also gave me another tool to 'get out' a bit more._

_I know this sounds sort of stalker-ish, but I've been watching over you and the Hunt. You may not be able to see me (which is the whole point), but I've been there for you guys for the past couple of months. And I have to tell you- you haven't aged a bit, Artemis :) . Alright, you may be in your eighteen-year old form, but you still look as beautiful as the day we danced on Olympus. _

_Seeing you has been the highlight of the last couple of years for me. Before that, I would hide at the bottom of lakes, barely coming to the surface. I was nervous that I would forget what you looked like, but every time I did come up to the shore, I would look at the moon, and your image would immediately appear in my head. Sometimes I needed that reassurance to keep on keeping on. _

_But I have some potential good news to tell you. This person who has visited me told me a way to escape this pattern of life. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing you. But I want you to see me. Even if you have no emotions or feeling for me, I don't care. I just want us to interact. At that point, if you want to turn me into a jackrabbit or make me your living target practice, I don't care. _

_It's funny, isn't it? I've put all of my chips on one person. And this person is actually a goddess who usually hates my kind. Funny how I've chosen you to confess my feelings, when you may be thinking about castrating me right now. But it's worth it._

_What I have to do will be no small task. Heck, I don't even know if I will survive it. But I pray to you and all of the other gods that I will. If this works out, I will get to see you again, Arty. (Like the nickname? If not, you can beat me up for it later.)_

_If things don't work out, and I am gone-gone, tell my mother that I love her so much, and I wished we could have seen together. Tell her that I made the most out of every situation that was brought upon me, even if the situations were dreadful._

_If I am gone-gone, then I want to tell you something as well Arty._

_I love you. I love everything about you. You are pure, you are independent, you are perfect. _

_Till we meet again,_

_Percy_

Artemis folded up the letter and didn't even try to restrain the tears that were pouring down her face. She was sitting on a boulder on top of a cliff overlooking the night sky. Although she wasn't paying attention, an observer could notice the moon turning darker and darker.

Artemis started to silently weep. She didn't want to have to control her emotions at this point. There were too many things that saddened her.

First of all, Percy had spent the last couple of years on his own in the middle of nowhere. She didn't know if even she was capable of doing such a thing. After all, she spent the majority of her time with the Hunt.

Beyond that, Percy was willing to sacrifice himself just to see her. She had no idea what he was up to, and that was the worst part about it. She couldn't help him in any way. She just had to sit there and hope that he would make it out of there okay. He was willing to do this even if she wanted to turn him into an animal. That's how bad he wanted to interact with her.

But she knew she would never do any of those things to Percy. She admired him too much. She remembered the time he took the weight of the sky for her. She didn't think he could handle it without the power of a maiden. But he did. He held it for her so she could defeat Atlas. Any other male would have tried to prevail as the hero no matter what, even if they were inhibited by a stupid curse. But he did the right thing, not even caring about the glory of victory.

He was as good as a man could be. And now she didn't know if she would ever see him again. She continued to sob.

"Artemis," a voice called out beside her. Artemis quickly tried to wipe away her tears and emotions.

"What is it?" she asked, slightly upset. She looked at who it was. "Oh, Hestia. How did you find me here?"

Hestia just gave her a soft smile. "I always know where my family is, especially when they need help," she replied.

"I don't need any he-"

"Artemis," she interrupted. "I know something is wrong here. Just let me know what's going on. I want to help you."

Artemis sniffled and tried to compose herself. "It's about Percy."

She went on the explain the whole story and the second letter she got. Hestia just nodded afterwards.

"Sounds like something he would do," she told her.

Artemis nodded her head. "I know, and that's what makes it so hard. It seems like he's always putting his life on the line."

"But it's interesting. It seems like that is a part of Percy's nature. But I didn't expect you to care as much as you do," Hestia confessed.

Artemis shook her head. "He is the best male I have ever met. It's just an objective thing. No one has ever been as selfless as him."

"You're right, he is objectively the best. But it appears that my niece is taking it a bit subjectively."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she retorted.

"Artemis, I know how you feel about the boy, ehr, man. It appears that he has feelings for you, and I think you are starting to reciprocate them," she told her.

If anyone else had told Artemis this, she would have gone into a fit of rage and taught them a lesson. But with Hestia, it never had any other implication other than the reality of the situation.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked, wiping a tear away from her dark, silvery eyes.

Hestia smiled, "Only to someone who finds you in the middle of the night crying to his letter. But that's only me. You have nothing to be concerned about."

"But if he does come back... then what do I do?" she asked.

Hestia looked out, thinking hard. Then her face lightened a little. "Well, let's not forget who we are talking about here. " Artemis looked at her to elaborate.

"It appears that Percy Jackson is the personification of defying fate. Maybe he can defy yours as well." Artemis looked her thoughtfully, and Hestia smiled warmly.

"Thank you Hestia."

Hestia gave a slight bow. "Anything for you, Artemis. He will survive. Just as much as putting his life on the line is in his nature, so too, is him surviving it."

Artemis nodded, "Let's hope that's the case." Hestia gave one more smile and left in flames.

Artemis looked up towards the moon, and slowly, it grew brighter and brighter.

She read the letter again, but this time she didn't cry.

She mumbled to herself, "I love you too, Percy."

**Thank you for reading, have a great day. The end is nigh with this story, hope you are enjoying!**


	17. Chapter 17

Luckily, Percy was given a clue of where to look for the Fates by Chaos. When she told him, "You can find the Fates if you know where to look," the image immediately popped into his mind.

Percy was just outside of New York. He remembered this place from all of his rides to Yancy Academy, as well as the one on the way back, where the bus crashed with him and Grover. In fact, this was the first place he met the Fates. Where they cut the lifeline of someone's yarn, which he later realized symbolized Luke's death.

He didn't know if they would be there, but he decided to take a look. Beyond that, he really had no clue what to do. Was it supposed to be hard to merely take all of their things? She said he could also kill them, but he didn't want to have to do that if possible.

He walked through the forest for a while, and heard a large sn_ip _noise. He remembered hearing that sound years ago. In front of him sat the Fates. They didn't seem to notice he was there. He devised a quick plan for taking all of their stuff. He would will some water from a nearby pond to encapsulate their feet and then pin them in place when frozen. Then, he would simply grab their things.

He turned on his Ring of Gyges and moved from tree to tree without a sound. He willed the water from a pond and froze them in place.

They noticed their situation and started yelling.

"Who dares to defy the Fates," one of them shrieked.

"No one can pull tricks on us. We control your destiny," another one said.

Then the one on the right had a moment of understanding. "Unless it's Percy Jackson," she wailed.

All of them started to scream and shout his name. "We know it's you," they told him. He decided to turn off his ring since they couldn't move.

"There he is," they hissed. He opened up his arms in a semi-taunting fashion.

"That's right, I'm here. I've waited for this day for a while. It's because of your guys' stupid system that I've been forced to live my life in solitude. I'm done with that," he said. As he spoke, he noticed his emotions starting to build.

"And what do you think you're going to do? What happens when we go away, you foolish mortal?" she asked him.

He thought about the question for a second. "I'm going to let people decide how they want to live their lives. As things are now, they are merely the pawns on your chessboard. That isn't right, and you know it."

The one on the right shook her head. "You foolish boy. Don't you get it. If we don't control the events of nature, everything will spur into chaos. The world as we know it will be burned to the ground."

"What about me?" he asked rhetorically. "Apparently I'm a part of this chaos, yet I haven't seemed to wrong anyone. In fact, I've done my best to help people in the process."

The middle one narrowed her eyes at him. "Do you really think that your intentions are as pure as they seem, boy? You think you do these things solely from the good of your heart? Who exactly have you been serving?" she asked. They had no clue what he had been doing with his life, since his timeline was disconnected from them.

"I've been serving the Hunt, trying to clean things and fix problems when I can," he replied. He didn't know why they cared what he was doing.

The one on the left pointed her crooked finger at him. "See, that's the problem. You think you are doing things with goodness in mind. Yet you are choosing to serve the one you love. You act out of selfishness. If you couldn't see that maiden goddess, you wouldn't be happy. You're not helping them. You are helping yourself in your life of loneliness."

Percy stood there in silence. He didn't know what to say. He thought that his intentions were pure, but after further examination, maybe him 'helping' Artemis was only because he cared for her, and that it made _him _feel good in the process.

The middle one spoke again. "Imagine the whole Earth was as self-interested as you. They only did things for the one's they loved. By the one, they only do that to be loved in return. Ultimately, every action is a reflection back on their own, personal yearnings. We prevent that from happening. So you tell us. Why should we put our faith in self-interested humans who would watch ten people die if it meant only one of their friends being saved? Why give them that choice? "

"Why give you guys the choice? It's not like you have made perfect decisions. I remember Luke dying to save us. I remember Annabeth dying a horrendous death. And that was all part of your system of order. Why would anyone want that?" By this point, Percy had tears in his eyes over the thought of Annabeth. What happened to her was terrible.

He continued, "If you guys were so good at your job, why would you have let me perform that fading spell to begin with, if you knew the consequences?" he asked them. At this point, he was essentially shouting.

"Percy Jackson, we may not have control over you now, but even that was a part of Nature's order. You act like we direct every event. No, we merely steer people in the right direction and they make the decision we want every, single, time. They think it's of their own choosing, but it's not. But when Annabeth died, we did not perceive your loyalty to be so strong. Your level of power and will matched ours in that moment, so we could only watch you do those stupid, idiotic things. That had never happened before. Not by a god, not by a titan. But we lost control over you in that moment. And look at all the suffering it has caused you because of it," one of them spoke.

Percy's tears began to fade. "And I did the best I could at every step afterwards. You guys don't know my intentions. And you are equally foolish to guess others' intentions as well," he said.

The middle one spoke. "Very well, let's put it to the test. If you are correct, that humans are good as they say, then we will give you all of our powers to destroy. If you are wrong, we ask you to let us continue our duties ordained by Order himself."

He nodded his head. "I accept on your conditions."

The middle one spoke, "Very well. Because we cannot control you, we will have to do everything here."

Once she said that, things got weird. In front of Percy appeared two red circles.

"Now Percy, perhaps you have heard of the Trolley Problem. If there is a train on target to run into three people, but you can move the switch to kill one person instead, do you do it?" the one on the right spoke.

"But that problem is outdated and could be improved. So we present to you, the following." She snapped her fingers, and Percy's eyes widened. In front of Percy were only two people, one in each circle. To his right he saw his mother. She looked surprised and scared that she was just teleported in the middle of nowhere. Then she saw Percy, and her eyes widened.

"Percy, my boy. I haven't seen you in years." She started to cry and tried to run up to Percy, but there was an invisible barrier preventing her from doing so.

He looked to his left, and his heart dropped twelve stories.

Artemis.

She looked at him and showed the same level of shock. She stuck her arms out and realized that she was also stuck.

"Percy," she called out to him. He saw her silver eyes start to shake, and tears had began to fall.

Percy looked above him, and his heart dropped all the way to Tartarus.

Above them was a giant crane holding an enormous, spiked ball made of Celestial Bronze.

Percy looked at the Fates. "What is this? Are you guys insane?!" he asked.

The middle one spoke. "You accepted this, Percy Jackson. If you want to prove the good of humanity and other beings, all that we ask of you is to make a choice. This isn't a moral dilemma of killing one to save the many. This is a moral dilemma of who you should chose to pick between the two you love the most. Beyond that, it is a moral dilemma of if you should make a choice at all, to cause your erroneous notion of free will to come into fruition."

The one on the right spoke. "And you should know, that spike has been cursed with the same spell that you decided to use against Hyperion. Your mother would die by the weight alone. But Artemis, on the other hand, she will go as well. Perhaps Artemis would die even worse than your mother, who will at least go to the afterlife. But then again, should a boy ever chose a man-hating girl who isn't even his girlfriend over his own mother? The one who raised for him and took care of him when no one else would?"

Both Artemis and Sally tried to talk, but the Fates must have prevented them from doing that. But they must have been able to listen, as he saw both of them pointing at themselves, mouthing the words 'pick me'. Percy wanted to crumple up like a worthless piece of paper.

"Again, Mr. Jackson, you are offered two levels of choices," the one on the left spoke. "You can choice between the two, or not at all. But only one of these circumstances gives you the ability to set humans free. And you are the very example to prove whether or not they deserve it. So tell us, Mr. Jackson, what is your choice?"

Percy immediately started to puke. He wiped his face from the bile and tears and snot. It wasn't pretty.

In front of him appeared a lever on a pedestal. The lever could be moved left, to 'Artemis', right to 'Sally', or upwards, to forfeit the choice.

If Percy's mind could be exemplified by anything, it would be a children's artwork full of scribbles and colors going outside the lines. He didn't know how to think of this. The decision was ultimately his. He didn't know what the right answer was. It was either kill his mom, kill Artemis, or prevent anyone from ever making a choice of their own (it also meant him not being able to see any one again and having to go back to being invisible around Artemis, but that wasn't even in his mind at the moment).

"What will it be, Mr. Jackson?" they asked in unison.

"Kill your mother to give all beings free will?" the one on the right asked.

"Kill Artemis, the one you love, to give all beings free will?" the one on the left asked.

"Or to not make a choice, to save them both but never let anyone have freedom of choice. To live the rest of your life alone to prevent sheer chaos?" the middle one asked.

Percy thought about it, and then smirked. "Why don't I just chose that last one and then talk to them anyways? You won't be able to do anything about it anyways?" he answered, appearing pretty happy with his response.

The one on the right shook her head. "Foolish boy. Try that, see how it works. Who will you talk to first? Artemis or your mother? If you talk to Sally, give her free will and prevent us from affecting her, then we will simply make Artemis fade in the meantime."

The one on the left spoke up, "Or chose to talk to Artemis, and your mother will surely be dead by the time you try and meet her."

He looked at them angrily. "You tyrants! You evil, terrible people!" he yelled at them. The earth started to shake, and a hurricane appeared around them. Yet the Fates didn't seem to be phased by his rage.

The one in the middle of spoke. "And don't worry, we will never give you the opportunity to meet both of them at the same, to prevent either of those situations from occurring."

The wind was roaring, probably eighty miles an hour. Percy was as mad as the day Annabeth died. He looked to the Fates in fury.

The Fates eyes glowed white. "Make a choice now, Mr. Jackson. It may be the last free choice anyone will ever witness."

Percy looked at the lever, and then to the women in front of him.

His mother had raised him. She did everything to make his childhood a good one. He remembered all the times she cooked him her famous blue chocolate chip cookies, or when she would bring home candy after work for them to enjoy. She was his life. And then he never was able to see her again. Could he ever live with himself not seeing his mother for years and then not being able to explain to her what happened?

And then there was Artemis, who literally stole his heart. He loved her through and through. He had no idea how she felt about him, but every time he saw her silver eyes and auburn hair, he wanted to take a picture of her and look at it for the rest of his life. His dance with her kept replaying in his head. He would do anything to have that moment once again.

And then there was everyone. Did he let his mother and Artemis go to prevent everyone from living their own lives. He knew what it was like for demigods who were forced into prophecies. He was the one who gave Luke the knife. Luke would still be alive if the Fates hadn't forced him to die. Same with Annabeth. Did he let this continue, where people died for no reason other than the whims of Fate?

He looked at the lever. Tears flooded from his face. His eyes were puffed up and red. He started to cry. He couldn't control any of his emotions. He wiped his face one more time. He looked at the two of them with disappointment, and he pushed the lever.

And the weight fell towards Artemis.

**Woah woah woah. That was so fun to write. Wow. I hope you enjoyed. Please let me know what you think about this chapter. Yowza! Have a great day, thank you for reading.**


	18. Chapter 18

The celestial bronze spiked weight was falling down on Artemis. She braced herself for the last moments of her existence.

Before her eyes flashed a series of events. There was her, Apollo, and Leto playing on the island they were born on. There was Zeus looking down at her and her brother for the first time at Olympus. A series of images with the Hunt came next, and the last of those was Zoe in her final moments.

And the last image she saw was Percy. She had her arms wrapped around him as she stared into his ethereal sea green eyes. His hair was always able to find that balance where it was disheveled and messy in a way that still looked more than presentable. His cheeks were red, and he was scared to dance with her. She remembered smelling the sea when she was with him. And in that moment of the past, she was happy.

The "life flashing before her eyes" thing seemed to last for a couple of minutes, but reality overtook her, and she had just seconds to live.

She closed her eyes and accepted her fate.

_BOOM_

Artemis was shoved out of the way and landed on the soft soil. She looked up, and the weight had landed.

She stood up and looked around. To her left, Sally was screaming. She looked over to the Fates, and their faces were left awestruck. And then she looked where Percy had stood. He wasn't there.

One tear fell from her cheek. He sacrificed himself for her to live. Another tear followed. He sacrificed himself so everyone could be free from the clutches of Fate. And then her eyes gave way to a stream of tears. He was gone. Percy Jackson didn't exist anymore.

She dropped down on her knees and started to sob. It wasn't the quiet, "trying to hide your emotions" sob. This was the gross, "letting it all go" kind of crying. Although she couldn't find the will to lift her head, she heard Sally doing the same.

Was this how her life had to be? She was able to find the best man to ever live. The man who was loyal to the ones he loved. The man who would do anything, even accept death, for another to live. He was beyond perfect, and Artemis was, rather than subduing all of her emotions, willing to accept her feelings for him and hoped to see him again someday. And today was supposed to be the day.

The more she thought about it, the more she hated her destiny. She didn't want to have to hide her feelings for Percy. If she was able to confess them sooner, none of these events would have happened. Sure, she swore on the Styx to remain a maiden, but the Fates had just admitted that they set up everyone to do what the wanted. They were just good at hiding it with a sense of "consciousness" and "self-awareness" with each decision.

What if, deep down in the potential of Artemis, was the ability to date a good man? To marry him, have kids, and live a happy life. What if all of those were a part of her that the Fates never brought to the surface of her being?

She was starting to cough from all of her crying. She wiped her face, which was covered in fluids and grossness and stuff. She tried to recollect herself, although really, she was just converting sadness into anger.

She looked up in front of her, and the Fates just sat there like the useless hags that they were. Artemis' eyes were beaming with silver moonlight. She could feel the tides rising with her control over the moon.

She started to walk towards the Fates, although she had no sense of her body. It was simply on auto-pilot, willing to do all of the things that her rage demanded. She grabbed her silver hunting knives and grasped them in her hand.

The Fates tried to escape, but she grabbed one by the hand.

"NO YOU DON'T" she yelled at her. "YOU ARE GOING TO SUFFER FOR THIS. FOR EVERYTHING."

She raised her hand with the knife and casted it down on her. When her fist made contact with the Fate's skin, the knife dematerialized.

Artemis stood there confused, and the Fates looked scared at what was behind her.

"There's no need for that, Artemis." She turned around, and there was Lady Chaos standing before them. Artemis felt her heart beating rapidly. That celestial could wipe her existence with the snap of her finger.

"You don't have to be afraid. You have a good reason to be upset," she told her. Chaos seemed to keep a tranquil look on her face, never letting anything get to her.

She looked to the Fates. "My brother's creations, I don't think he would be proud of what you have done," she said with a frown. "But what's done is done, and I believe you three must stick to your word." She looked at them expectantly.

They dropped their heads and let go of their tools that shaped reality. Chaos' face returned more neutral than before.

Artemis looked at her with desperation. "Is... is..." she stuttered. "Is he gone?"

Chaos' face fell back to a frown. "I cannot sense his existence at the moment, Artemis. I believe he is gone."

Artemis was back to the pain she had experienced in the first place... except now it was ten times worse.

* * *

Chaos teleported Artemis to the throne room and was able to send Zeus' signal for an emergency meeting. The gods and goddesses started to flash in one by one.

Zeus shouted, "WHO DARE USES MY SIGNAL TO CALL THIS-" He paused and looked at who was in front of him.

His voice turned very meek, "Lady Chaos, I apologize. I am sorry. If I would have known it was you, I would have-"

"It's alright Zeus," she told him, although she wasn't happy in this moment.

All of the Olympians had situated themselves, and, after being extremely nervous of Lady Chaos, waited for her to speak.

"Gods and Goddesses of Olympus. Today is a sad day. Today, Percy Jackson has been faded from the existence of the Universe," she proclaimed, melancholily. The throne room was silent. A pin drop could be heard loud and clear.

"What? How?" Poseidon asked desperately. He started to shake and quiver.

Lady Chaos told him the story. Not just what happened today, but every event of his life for the past five years. At each moment, more and more of the Olympians started to feel true remorse for him. Hestia's fire was put out at this point.

Chaos gulped. "But it is worth noting, not only did he always live for a noble cause, but he died for a noble cause as well. Apollo, do you notice anything different?" she asked him.

Apollo nodded his head. It was the one time he looked serious at a council meeting. "Yes, I cannot see the future anymore. My oracle has lost her ability to prophesies events."

Chaos nodded her head. "Indeed. Percy Jackson died so that Fate would not have control over you or the rest of this planet. Everything you do is because you chose to do it." Everyone was amazed at what he had done.

"But listen to me," Artemis said with authority. She stood up from her chair and walked next to Lady Chaos in the center. All of the Olympians looked at her with surprise. "Do not take this free choice for granted. At every step of your decisions, I want you to think 'what would Percy do'?" she told them. They all were shocked at her level of care, except Hestia, who stared at the ground, slowly nodding her head in acknowledgement.

Artemis continued. "He sacrificed himself for me. But he also died for you." She started to tear up again. "Us gods like to forget our promises and duties. But if I ever see any of you acting in a manner that goes against the sacrifice that he made, there will be Hades to pay. That is a promise." All of the Olympians timidly nodded their heads in agreement. "What would Percy do?" she asked quietly, more to herself than the others.

"Why don't you just ask him?" she heard a voice from behind her. She turned around and saw Lord Order. Her eyes widened. But then she saw who was standing next to him, and her mind was exhilarated.

Standing next to him, in all of his dorkiness, yet glory, was Percy Jackson. She turned to his height and hugged him tightly. She rested her head against his chest and smelled the sea once again.

"You're here," she said to him, tears of joy crawling down her face. He wrapped his arms around her in return.

"It's me," he replied. "I needed to see you again. For real, this time." They continued to embrace each other, while all of the Olympians were shocked. Artemis, the eternal maiden, man-hater of Olympus, was hugging Percy Jackson with affection and care.

Chaos approached her brother. "Order, how did you do this?" she asked ecstatically.

He smiled at her. "You know, most of the time I like to maintain order over the planets with my Fates. But I saw, in Percy Jackson's final moments, that humanity and the gods on Earth would be fine on their own. You created a beautiful planet, Chaos. With beautiful beings, like Percy here. I think they deserve to be free."

Chaos went up and hugged him tightly. "And you saved him somehow?" she asked.

He hugged her back. "I couldn't let your finest creation seize to exist, now could I?" he responded.

After all of the commotion and reunions between Percy and some of the gods took place, the council continued.

Order put his hand on Chaos' shoulder. "Olympians, today you are free. Earth is a beautiful place, and I have no need to govern it like I had before. And there is no one else to thank but my sister Chaos and Mr. Percy Jackson over here."

Order looked at Chaos and smiled. "And because of that, I present to you: Percy Jackson, god of free will, loyalty, and the tides... your new Olympian." Gold shimmers started to encapsulate his body, and Artemis stood next to him in awe, as the lights reflected off of her silver eyes. Percy looked at her and smiled, as the aura around him continued to grow. After the intensity of the light hit its peak, it all immersed itself back into Percy. Above him, his symbol appeared. It was a picture of waves with a moon overlooking them- the perfect tide. A thrown rose up from the side. It was many shades of blue and green with emerald studded around it.

"I believe it is only fair to offer Hades and Hestia to the council as well for helping Percy along the way," Chaos added. Two more thrones resurrected. She continued, "If I were you, I would look to Percy as a beacon of action. If you all remain as selfless, determined, and loyal as him, your council will remain for millennia to come."

Zeus looked at everything that was happening and nodded his head. He couldn't go against the wishes of Chaos and Order. But the more he considered it, the more he realized that they were right to do what they did.

He raised him arms in the air, and everyone turned their attention to him. "I believe it is time to celebrate."

Artemis looked at Percy and smiled at him. He returned it with a lopsided grin.

**ThAnK yOu FoR rEaDiNg. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Don't worry, I'll get in an epilogue in here for ya'll. **


	19. Chapter 19 (Epilogue)

**I'm very excited this story ended on a prime number, I don't know why**

"Percy!" "Yo Perce, come here!" As soon as Zeus commenced the party, things went nuts. Percy was immediately swarmed by the ones he had met over the years.

"He's my son, I get to talk to him first," Poseidon growled, walking past all of the others. He looked at Percy and smiled fondly towards him. The laugh crinkles on his cheeks were visible.

He embraced him in a hug. "My boy," he told him.

Percy returned the hug. "It's great seeing you again dad," he replied. They started to walk down the streets of Olympus, away from the crowd.

"You have no idea how much I missed you, Percy," he told him. It looked like he could have cried in that moment, but he prevented himself from doing so. "I remember the day you went missing. You remember don't you? You made the seas rage and earth shake like never before. Not even I could stop your wrath," he recalled.

"I'm sorry about-"

"No, don't apologize Percy. Did I enjoy being unable to stop a puny demigod from controlling my domains? No. But this puny demigod was also my son, the Hero of Olympus, and that equalized my emotions with great pride. In that moment, you could have competed with any Olympian." He leaned towards Percy and whispered, "Even Zeus." He nudged his son with his elbow.

Percy just smiled. "I didn't even know I was doing that," he recalled. "I guess my emotions were just mirrored by the damage I caused."

Poseidon scratched his beard. Percy noticed that he hadn't changed at all. He was wearing a pink and white Hawaiian shirt with the top few buttons open. He matched that with khaki shorts and leather sandals. He smelled like the Atlantic.

"But Percy, your power was never the thing that impressed me the most about you," he spoke. "No, it was your loyalty. Although it is your fatal flaw, which Athena constantly reminded me of," he remembered annoyingly, "you always did the best with it. And that's because you invested yourself in the right people. You always know who to associate yourself with. You are good at deciding who is a good person and who is not. Because of that, all of your acts of loyalty and sacrifice always end up occurring for a good cause, even if you are destroyed in the process. Now, I may not enjoy hearing that you have done something life threatening for someone else, because you're my son, but boy, do I look up to you in those moments," he told him. He put his hand on Percy's shoulder.

"You are the best son I could have ever asked for, Percy." By now, a single tear had fallen from his eye and landed somewhere in his beard.

"I'm proud to be your son," he reciprocated. "It's great seeing you again, dad." The two of them walked back to the party, and Poseidon patted him on the back and encouraged him to mingle with the other people who wanted to see him.

And that's what Percy did for the next couple of hours. Of course, he had to dance with Apollo again on stage, which he actually enjoyed this time. Aphrodite tried to seduce him a hundred times, but Percy declined every single time.

And then Hestia came up to him. "Care to dance," she asked him with a small smile.

Percy returned the smile and stuck out his hand. "It would be my honor, Hestia," he replied. They danced once again, like many years ago. Although this time, Percy wasn't sad over the things he thought he could have done differently. He wasn't sad that everything that happened was part of some larger form of Fate. In this moment, he was happy. This level of happiness made every year in Tartarus and solitude worth while.

"You know I wouldn't be back on the council if it weren't for you?" she told him. Percy shook his head.

"If it wasn't for your life advice that I continually looked back on, who knows if I would be here today," he replied.

She shook her head with a delighted smile. "Oh Percy, when did Olympus ever deserve a hero as strong and noble as you?" she asked. Her eyes were filled with embers lighting inside. She was still in her 8 year old form, and she wore a white Greek toga. After her question, Percy was reminded of all of the others who helped him in his life. Annabeth. Luke. Grover. He didn't do any of these things by himself.

He smiled at her. "I just try to do the right thing when I can and hope that those around me do as well. I was lucky enough that they did," he replied.

She looked into his eyes. "You are an Olympian now. Never let that change who you are." She cupped her hand around his face and kissed his cheek warmly. He smiled at her with glee. And then she walked away.

"Percy, do I get a dance?" He turned around, and there was Lady Chaos. As if he hadn't smiled enough tonight, he did once again. "I would love to, Lady Chaos."

"Percy, I'm so proud of everything you have done with your life," she told him. "I always envisioned my creation acting like you, but seeing it in practice is just the most surreal experience of my long, long life." He smiled at her.

"I couldn't have done it without you. Things worked out just fine for someone as chaotic and disconnected from the Fates as me." He blushed.

"And that's the best part, Percy. My brother and I always had this tension between us. I wanted to let my creations be set free, and he thought controlling them would help. At first, he had convinced me that his way was much more balanced. But you have shown me that order doesn't have to come in the form of a determined life. Creatures of this Earth seem quite capable of making their own decisions that maintain the balance of nature. It's all thanks to you that we can appreciate that now, Mr. 'Olympian of Free Will'," she told him.

"And is Order alright with this?" he asked her.

She nodded her head. "There's a reason he saved you, Percy. Your nobility was able to convince even him that it can work in other ways. And the best part is our relationship has never been closer than it is tonight."

They danced for a while longer, and then she let go. "I believe it is time for me to go."

Order appeared next to her. He bowed towards Percy. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Percy," he told him. "You gave me so much faith in my sister's creations. Thank you for that. Even if Earth ever does fall into disarray, I know that you will be there to stop it. Goodbye, Percy Jackson." The celestials smiled at him and walked into a portal.

Percy just stood there in awe. How did he befriend the two strongest deities in the Universe? He decided not to think much of it. Thankfully, he didn't have much time to.

"Excuse me," he heard behind him. He turned around and smiled there in delight.

Standing in front of him was Artemis, as beautiful as ever. She wore a silver dress with a single strap running across her left shoulder. It seemed to be Greek inspired, as the dress tightened around her waist. Percy noticed how perfect her figure was. Her auburn hair was put into a formal bun, similar to the celebration after the death of Kronos. But this time, there was something different about her. Maybe it was because he wasn't afraid of her like before. Or maybe it was the expression on her face.

She looked at him expectantly, but he could see the happiness behind her facade. "So, are you going to ask me to dance?" she asked him.

He gave her a smirk. "I think we can do better than that." He grabbed her shoulder and the two of them vaporized away from the party.

"What was-" she began to ask him. She looked around, and she was quickly silenced. They were at a beach. She looked around and realized it was Montauk, where she searched for Percy years ago. She looked out towards the infinite sea, which reflected the bright moon above it. The stars shown above, and Artemis noticed the constellation of Zoe shining brightly.

"I thought we could dance here this time," he told her. And so they did. There was no music like at Olympus, but they didn't need it. Artemis wrapped her arms around his neck, and rested her head on his chest. Unlike the last time they danced, Percy had no problem putting his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

They didn't talk much. They didn't really have anything to say. All they wanted in this moment was to be reminded that the other was there, for real this time.

They did this for minutes, maybe hours at that point. Time didn't seem to matter anyways.

And then, there was Apollo, who flashed himself towards them. "There you guys are! I've been looking everywhere for you two. Come on guys, we're just about to do my signature limbo contest." He pretended to see how low he could go.

Artemis gave him an amused look. "That's alright Apollo, you guys go have your fun back at Olympus." She looked up into his eyes, silver on sea-green. "We're good right here," she told him. Percy smiled down at her and wrapper her tighter.

Apollo shook his head. "Fine, then I'll just have to bring the party here. See you lovebirds soon!" he cooed. He flashed away.

Artemis put her head back on his chest and mumbled, "Do we have to do that?" she asked him.

Percy smirked. "Well, we don't have to..."

"What do you mean by- oh, Percy!" Percy grabbed Artemis bridal style and started walking towards the sea.

"Percy Jackson, let go of me," she told him, although there was a playful tinge to her words.

"Is this the part where I say," he jokingly lowered his voice, "Babe, I'm never letting go." She punched him in the shoulder, but he just kept on walking.

He was about knee deep in the water, but his dress pants stayed totally dry. Artemis braced herself for the cold, but it never happened. Before she knew it, she was completely submerged in the water, yet totally dry. She looked around her and realized that they were encapsulated in a giant bubble.

He smiled. "I've hidden for five years, I think I can hide from Apollo for Pete's sake." She laughed at him, and stood up. It was weird for her, standing on the ocean floor. She looked around and saw fish swimming by. Percy seemed to be communicating with them somehow. "Thanks," he would say. "Appreciate it." "She is a keeper, isn't she?" he would tell them. Artemis shook her head at the hilarity of the situation.

She looked up and noticed the moonlight shining through the water. It seemed like it was a spotlight directly on her and Percy.

"Do you think they will find us here?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "Maybe Poseidon, but I don't think he's going to do anything about it." She wrapped her arms around his neck once more.

He embraced her and gave her a smile. "You know I love you, right."

She looked up at him with a glint in her eye. "I sort of got that idea."

Up above, Apollo and the rest of Olympus were about to begin the limbo contest. He looked everywhere for Percy and Artemis, but to no avail.

"I didn't know if you knew this," Artemis told him, leaning close, "But I think I love you too." They smiled at one another.

Percy wanted the moment to last forever. After the five years of loneliness and sadness, he was finally with the person he loved the most. He would never forget that night, when the two reunited.

Then he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. And they kissed. It was probably the best underwater kiss of all time.

_**FINIS**_

**-That's some latin for ya'll. Thank you guys so much for reading! Was the ending maybe a bit predictable? Yes, but this story needed a bit of fluff, and I couldn't think of a better way to end it. I'm so glad things worked out well for the two of them. If you couldn't tell, I really try to make sure the story is somewhat realistic based on the events and situations that occur. **

**Just thought I would give some epilogue to the epilogue, in case you guys are wondering what happens after that with the Hunt. The Hunt remains together, and Percy spends the most of the time with him. Artemis told them that if they found a man as good as Percy, she would be hypocritical not to let them be together. Percy gave them hope that there were good men that existed. **

**I'm going to take a day or two off from writing, but I hope to write another story soon. Maybe it will be Percabeth, maybe Perzoe, I don't know yet. Thank you guys so much for everything! I hope you had as good of a time reading it as I did writing it! Have a great day**


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